Author rights and math exercises found on books

Question

I'm building an education related product with some friends and we're planning on using exercises we find on various books for the guides.

Our question is if the math exercises belong to them and nobody else can use them (since every books states "Partial or complete reproduction of the book is illegal").

Research: I understand very little about laws, but for what I understand I believe "pure math" is not patentable, and a math exercise should be considered pure math. Am I right?

Looking forward to see what more savvy users have to say!

Thanks, S.

Answer 1

You are confusing some things. Patents don't come into play here at all, your problem is all about copyright.

If I write something, anything, then I have the copyright on that work, and you may not copy it without my permission. This applies to my post here, for example, and to math exercises that you find in a book. "Reproduction is illegal" isn't any contract between the author and you, it's a polite reminder that there is copyright law that doesn't allow you to copy the book or parts.

Just write your own exercises. Don't even think about copying someone else's. Do the work yourself. Don't try to profit from someone else's work.