How Wolfram Alpha could change software (They think they own search results)
Jul 31, 2009, 13:02 (8 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Neal McAllister)
"In other words, Wolfram Research is claiming that each page of
results returned by the Wolfram Alpha engine is a unique,
copyrightable work, like a report or term paper. That makes Wolfram
Alpha different not just from classic search engines, but from most
software. While software companies routinely retain sole ownership
of their software and license it to users, Wolfram Research has
taken the additional step of claiming ownership of the output of
the software itself. It's a bold assertion, and one that could have
significant ramifications for the software industry as a whole.
"...Is software output copyrightable? Wolfram might be right. It
is at least theoretically possible to copyright works generated by
machines. Consider electronic music, for example. But some things
can't be copyrighted, including recipes, simple instructions, and
other trivial bits of information. For Wolfram Alpha to claim
copyright protection for its query results, its pages must be such
original presentations of information that they qualify as unique
works of authorship."
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