Editing Software patent debate (section)

===Copyright===
*It is argued that traditional copyright has provided sufficient protection to facilitate massive investment in software development.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/basics/index.html |title=The Basics |publisher=NoSoftwarePatents.com |access-date=2008-06-19}}</ref>
*[[Copyright]] is the right of an author(s) to prevent others from copying their creative work without a license. Thus the author of a particular piece of software can sue someone that copies that software without a license. Copyright protection is given automatically and immediately without the need to register the copyright with a government, although registration does strengthen protection. Copyrighted material can also be kept secret.