CGS wrote: > On 2026-05-22, CGS <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 2026-05-21, Dan Ritter <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> Now, innovative, non-obvious processes can be protected by patents, > >> not copyrights. But most software doesn't contain an innovative process, > >> just a new combination of known processes. > > > > What would be an example of an innovative process? > > > > The first software patent was issued June 19, 1968 to Martin Goetz for > a data sorting algorithm. > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patent > > Seems kind of vague, in software, what could possibly be patented that > couldn't just as well be copyrighted.
A patent covers the method. A copyright covers the wording. These are different, as you know, since you can express the same instructions in English or in French. A patent would cover both, a copyright would cover one or the other unless the complaint was that the one was directly derivative of the other. But all of this is law, so: - it is dependent on jurisdiction - it is ultimately a social matter - it is an expression of power over others - it is guaranteed to be wrong in at least some cases or applications. -dsr-
