On 6/2/23, G. Branden Robinson <g.branden.robin...@gmail.com> wrote: > If an equation is not copyrightable because it expresses a _fact_, then > it seems to be that one can obtain copyright protection in _false_ > equations. These would be analogous to the trap streets that map > publishers place in their works.[1] > > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street
That link points out that trap streets themselves are not copyrightable. They exist as a tool to detect copyright violations (though aren't strictly necessary for that). By analogy, then, a false equation also wouldn't be copyrightable. But I doubt it's that simple. It seems to me that an original equation that doesn't express any real-world phenomenon, if it's sufficiently nontrivial, could meet the threshold for an original work, and thus be copyrightable. (IANAL.) (A "false equation" could be one that incorrectly expresses a fact (e.g., 2 = 3) or one that is mathematically valid but does not have any known real-world application. I'm not sure whether that distinction would affect the copyrightability, again assuming the equation is nontrivial enough to reasonably be said to express originality.)
