Re: chess moves

On 24 Apr 2000, Bruce E. Hayden <bhayden[_at_]ieee.org> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 21 Apr 2000, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, 17 Apr 2000, Henry McInulty <henry[_at_]mcinulty.greatxscape.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > Are chess moves copyrighted or patented.
> >
> > Ideas cannot be copyrighted. The expression of ideas can be.
>
> Originally, I thought that the moves of a chess game would contain
> sufficient original expression to support copyright protection. But
> then I thought of the functionality argument, and realized that in
> particular in the case of grand masters, many of the moves might be
> considered functional. After all, if a move is the optimal move in
> a given situation, it should be filterable.
>
> Of course, I don't play that that level, so many of my moves are
> sub-optimal. The result I would think is that while my games are
> probably protected by copyright, those of a grand master may not
> be, or if so, at not nearly the same level.
>
> Does this make sense, ignoring the law? I don't think so.

Chess publishers and authors around the world consider the moves of a game to be facts. Bad moves are equal to good in terms of facts. My impression is that many, if not most games, are lost through error rather than won by brilliant innovation.

I believe that annotations, which are added to the text of a game are considered to be unique expressions that may vary from one player to another and are presumed to be subject to copyright.

Best wishes,

Albert Henderson
Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY
<70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Tue Apr 25 2000 - 22:52:39 GMT