copyrightA set of rights that prevents people copying and distributing a piece of work without the copyright holder's permission. is a legal means of ensuring that content creators can protect what they create, but it only applies to certain types of creative work, including art work, books and computer programs. In general, copyright does not apply to ideas.
Copyright is applied automatically as long as certain criteria are met. It is not necessary to register copyright or to use a 漏 symbol. Work is automatically protected by copyright once it is recorded in physical or digital form, and the copyright holder can choose to sell, licenceA legal agreement between the company that published the software and the end user covering areas such as copyright. or give that right away.
patentAn official licence from the government to allow a person or business the sole right to make, use or sell an invention. are another legal means of protection, concerned with inventions. Patents need to be applied for and registered. Patents have different criteria to copyright, including strict requirements for novelty and inventiveness.
algorithmA sequence of logical instructions for carrying out a task. In computing, algorithms are needed to design computer programs. present difficulty and uncertainty in the law since they do not fit nicely into copyright or patents.
Copyright covering algorithms can only be applied once the programmer converts the algorithm into source codeThe term given to a set of instructions that are written in human readable programming language.. The copyright of the source code can be used to protect that code from being copied, but will not prevent others from independently creating their own source code which does the same thing.
There is also a possibility of patenting the technical effect of an algorithm - for example the steps to control a piece of hardwareThe physical parts of a computer system, eg a graphics card, hard disk drive or CD drive. to perform a particular function.
Note: This content is provided for educational purposes only and is not a complete statement of the law. It should not be treated or relied upon as legal advice.