If Haydn had patented the symphony

[Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>]

Here is an idea: write the claims for a patent on "sonata form", which
was the usual structure of the first movement of a symphony, with the
music to be played through a MIDI synthesizer by a computer.

My idea is that you can find a way to do this that would make it a
legitimate patent under the proposed EU directive.  (Of course, it
would be invalid due to prior art, but that's a different issue.)

Then instead of "What if Haydn could have patented the symphony",
we will be able to say, "With this directive, Haydn could have
patented the symphony."