LSAT 130 | Section 2 | Reading Comprehension: Q15

RC Question 15 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: According to the passage, the theory that copyright and other intellectual-property rights can be construed as logical extensions of the right to own concrete, tangible objects depends on the claim that

DISCUSSION: When a question is phrased this way, the passage will literally say the right answer.

In this case, the second sentence of paragraph one says that tangible-object theory depends on everything copyrightable having a physical form.

___________

1. CORRECT. See the first paragraph, second sentence. The author states this literally, “This view depends on the claim that….”
2. Tangible object theory doesn’t depend on it being impossible to transfer ownership of copyright. Indeed this would seem to go against the theory, as you can transfer ownership of the underlying physical objects. (See last sentence of paragraph 1)
3. In paragraph 3, the author says that coming up with an idea can be more valuable than putting it into tangible form. But, this question is asking about something completely different. This answer is true in the passage but doesn’t answer what the question is asking.
    
   The question is asking what tangible object theory depends on.
4. The passage doesn’t say this. It’s not clear why if you believe copyright depends on tangible objects you would also be forced to believe you could also intangibly own some other thing.
5. Paragraph 1 says you can legally destroy a physical object. Not clear how you destroy an intangible thing such as copyright. You can memorize a copyrighted work, it would exist in your head even if all copies were destroyed.