Phil sherrell, a media lawyer with Eversheds, explains: “intellectual property law protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves.” Sherrell agrees that “the distinction is not always satisfactory,” but says that there needs to be a limit to the protection conferred on creativity by the law. “To extend the ambit of copyright protection to embrace ideas would be difficult in practice——how would the artist prove that they have conceived the idea if it has not been reduced to a tangible form? It would also open the door to undesirably wide monopolies.”

 But copyright’s 300-right pedigree might be a cause for concern rather than veneration. The means by which we communicate has changed out of all recognition from the time when copyright was invented. Today, in the post-modernist world, what constitutes an artistic, literary or musical work is radically different, not least in the field of conceptual art. Here, copyright’s time-honored reluctance to protect ideas is of dubious merit, according to Hubert Best, a media lawyer, a media lawyer with Best & Soames. 

 “If you look at Martin Creed’s [art installation] Work No. 227, The light Going On and Off, where is the work? ” asks Best. “Is it in the fact that a light bulb goes on and off, or in the concept? I suspect it’s the latter. But old-fashioned copyright law does not cover this kind of thing.” Creed’s Work No.227 was an empty room in which the lights periodically switched on and off. It won the Turner Prize in 2001 to a predictable chorus of controversy. This goes with the territory in conceptual art, but other artists have found their work inspires not merely lively debate but accusations of plagiarism.

 Last year, there weeks after he unveiled his diamond-encrusted, ￡50m skull, Damien Hirst was alleged to have stolen the idea for the work from another artist, John LeKay. In 2006, Robert Dixon, a graphics artist, said that Hirst’s print, Valium, was too close for comfort to one of his circular designs in The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Geometry. Hirst had another brush with intellectual property law when Norman Emms complained about a ￡1m bronze torso which, he said was copied from a ￡14.99 plastic anatomical toy. Emms later received a “goodwill payment” from the artist.

 As one of the world’s wealthiest artists, Hirst is well-placed to fight such battles, but due allowance should be given for art’s intertextual essence. Writers borrow plots and embed allusions to their forebears, artists adapt well-known motifs, musicians play each other’s songs and sample existing riffs and melodies. But there is a fine line between plagiarism and creative allusion, and it was considered by the courts in the case of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. The Court of Appeal upheld the initial ruling that Brown had not reproduced substantial content from The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail. The decision was also widely seen as confirming English law’s disinclination to protect ideas.

 Yet if ideas can’t be protected, where does that leave the writer aggrieved by the appearance of his idea in another’s book? “It sounds harsh,” says Sherrell, “but unless a writer has gone some way to creating the work——by way of an outline and perhaps a chapter or two——there is no remedy if the same idea appears under another author’s name. However, given that everything is done on computers these days, it would be relatively easy to prove first creation by looking at the hard drive. Other than that, anyone in the creative arena should keep full and dated record to evidence their work.”

 There is another thing that can be done. “You can impose a confidentiality obligation on those with whom you want to discuss your idea,” says Best. “Non disclosure agreements (NDAs) are often used in the corporate world to give a contractual remedy for breach of confidence if an idea is stolen. But the trouble is that a writer, musician or artist who comes into a meeting wielding an NDA isn’t likely to make friends. It’s a fairly aggressive way to proceed.” Best is doubtless correct when he says: “you’ve just got to get on with it and do it. Once your work exists, in material form, you can sue if anyone steals it.”

11. The story told at the beginning of the passage______.

(A) shows the difficulties of turning an idea into a book

(B) described how the writer entertained the editor to get the book published

(C) demonstrated how the editor betrayed the promise he has given

(D) indicates the tricky issue of he protection of intellectual property

解析：此题答案为D，即：暗示了知识产权保护是个极其微妙的问题。A说展示了把一个主义转变为一本书的困难。B描述作者是如何愚弄编辑要出书的，显然与原文不符合。C描述编辑是如何违背他的诺言的。尽管内容没有问题，但是并不是作者的写作意图。作者只是想通过这个故事来引出后面的内容。

12. The word “ambit” in the sentence “To extend the ambit of copyright protection to embrace ideas would be difficult in practice” (para.2) can best be replaced by _______.

(A) ambition
(B) restriction
(C) range
(D) margin

解析：此题答案为C。C最符合整句话的意思，即“要拓展版权保护的范围至保护个人想法，实施起来将会非常困难。”

13. The passage introduced the artist Martin Creed’s Work No. 227 ________.

(A) as it was most severely criticized by the media lawyer Hubert Best

(B) because it displays the dubious nature of some contemporary works of art

(C) because it won the Turner Prize in 2001 to a chores of controversy

(D) as it was an example of conceptual art which causes accusations of plagiarism

解析：此题答案为D，“有意识形态艺术的例子引起抄袭的指控，Work No.227只是其中一个”。文章第四段最后一句。This goes with the territory in conceptual art, but other artists have found their work inspires not merely lively debate but accusations of plagiarism, 在意识形态艺术的领域里，很多艺术家发现他们的作品不光是引起争论同时还可以引发抄袭的指控。

14. Which of the following CANNOT be true about Damien Hirst according to the passage?

(A) He is one of the wealthiest artists in today’s world.

(B) He paid Norman Emms to settle the issue of accusation of “copying”.

(C) He was said to have stolen the concept for his work of diamond-encrusted skull.

(D) He is ready to fight all those who have accused him of plagiarism.

解析：此题答案为D。(A) 选项的内容出现在第六段的第一句。(B)出现在第五段的最后一句。（C）出现在第五段的第一句。

15. The concluding paragraphs mainly tell us that ______.

(A) non disclosure agreements can be used to protect ideas

(B) confidentiality obligation is the moral standard

(C) the best way to prove first creation is to use computer

(D) there is no other way to protect ideas unless the work exists

解析：此题答案为D，除非作品存在，不然没有办法保护原创想法。文章最后一句话，Best is doubtless correct when he says: “you’ve just got to get on with it and do it. Once your work exists, in material form, you can sue if anyone steals it.” 他说：“你就是应该坚持想法，做下去。一旦你的作品成型，你就有权控告任何偷窃你想法的人。