Many programmers do not consider the concept of software copyright when they write computer code. In most cases they don't need to, because the code they are writing is for their own use. However, if you are writing software that may be used by others you should definitely be thinking about copyright and the property rights granted by copyright law.
LINKS
Read “The Programmer's Guide to the Software Copyright,” authored by John E. Wehrli, published by the United States Department of Energy.