Editing Software patent debate (section)

===Copyright limitations===
{{Main|Copyright infringement of software}}
Patents protect functionality. Copyright on the other hand only protects expression. Substantial modification to an original work, even if it performs the same function, would not be prevented by copyright. To prove copyright infringement also requires the additional hurdle of proving copying, which is not necessary for patent infringement.

Copyright law protects unique expressions, while patent law protects inventions, which in the case of software, are [[algorithm]]s; copyright cannot protect a novel means of accomplishing a function, merely the syntax of one such means.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.law360.com/articles/5115/experts-debate-constitutionality-of-software-copyrights | title=Experts Debate Constitutionality Of Software Copyrights | access-date = 2017-03-28}}</ref>

This means that patents incentivize projects that are unique and innovative in functionality rather than simply form.  Copyrights, in turn, only incentivize uniqueness in form.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://partnershipforamericaninnovation.org/software-myths-and-facts/#copyrightenough | title=Software Myths and Facts | access-date = 2017-03-29}}</ref>