If you're wondering how to copyright software, the good news is you've probably already done it. At least you have if you have ever written software. Most people get confused over exactly what having a copyright for their software means. Only those things that can be seen (when it comes to software) can be copyrighted. If you want to protect the abstract, look into patents. Otherwise if it is original, fixed, and tangible you can copyright it. Essentially you already know how to copyright software if you've put it into a finished form. Once you've written the source code, the copyright belongs to you.

Copyrighting software doesn't offer the protection that many people hope it will. The idea of software and anything about the finished product that wasn't available in a tangible (visible) form isn't protected by copyright. In fact, the only thing undeniably protected by software copyright is the source code. The question you should ask yourself is not how to copyright software, but how to patent your software.

To obtain a patent for your software, you must apply for a patent in each country that offers patents for software and in which you wish to have the protection a patent can offer. There is no universal legal definition of what a software patent is. Each country that offers patents also has a different definition for what is protected by that patent, as well as for why a patent will be granted. Also consider the fact your software may be given a patent in one country where you applied and none of the others.

Of course, if this is not enough fun for you, you can try to deal with the red tape involved in dealing with multiple governments to resolve any issues or disputes that may have arisen from your software patents.

If you are applying for international patents (which can secure a profitable future for you and your business), you need to find a good patent lawyer and have him walk you through the entire process. Patents are complicated. When you're not exactly sure of what you're doing, whom you need to talk to, and what the next step is, you stand to waste a lot of time while taking a bigger risk. It is much easier to deal with how to copyright software on your own than it is to work out the complicated world of software patents.

If this is your first time designing your own software, you have every right to be nervous. Remember: lawyers went to school much longer than you to know what to do in this situation, so you should not be expected to know how to copyright or patent software when you've never done it before.