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Originally Posted by pwalker8
Ideas are never concrete. Copyright is the ability to copy a work, no more, no less. A physical book, either paper or digital, is not intellectual property.
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The World Intellectual Property Organisation (arbiters of the various international IP treaties) disagrees with you. From their website:
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Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
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Note the "literary works" bit. A book is most assuredly IP, and the laws that govern IP, such as copyright law, define what you are and are not allowed to do with it. It's a lot more than just copy it. You can't, for example, give a public performance of it (eg stand on a street corner and read it out loud). You own the paper, ink, and glue and, as you say, you can do pretty much what you want with those. You have extremely limited rights when it comes to the actual contents of the book (that is, the "intellectual property"). With an ebook, there is no tangible object - no paper, ink, or glue - so intellectual property is all that you have. IP laws are therefore central to discussions of what can or can't be done with ebooks.