Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
The oil under your property (lucky guy if not hypothetical!) is pretty much the same as the oil under other producing properties in your area. After refining, it's identical to that from properties all over the world. So you do not have an oil monopoly.
But after I read a positive trustworthy review of a book on a subject that interests me, I want to read just that book, not the book your neighbor wrote. And if anywhere close to recent, someone does have a monopoly on that book I want to read. And they should, because without it, most books I read would not be written. And if book monopolies are watered down, the books I like probably would be written, but I doubt they would be as carefully edited and well-researched.
If that's what US law says, I respectfully disagree.
|
It was hypothetical...(I should be so lucky.)
And yes, that is established US law, (the first major test of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and John D Rockefeller lost, big time. Standard Oil was broken up into multiple smaller companies.)
You miss the point, I can buy book x or book y or book z, all of which are on the exactly the same subject. Each one is a monopoly (copyright), but each one competes for the purchaser's dollar. They do not have to exactly identical in order to compete. You may prefer book x, and I may prefer book y, but I could use book x and you could use book y, if necessary.