[ClumsyPilot]

This is a huge powergrab by our industry - it is the only industry in the world that gets both patent and copyright protection. Think about it, you can patent a car engine, but you cannot get copyright on it. You get copyright on a book, but you can't patent a book.

Also that's mostly US. By contrast, in Europe, software is generally not patentable.

[jononor]

The schematics, engineering drawings, 3d models, CAD files, process documentation etc for making a car engine (or anything else) are all copyright protected. So how exactly is software special?

[ClumsyPilot]

that's very different - does not stop me copying a car engine and selling my knockoff.

I can buy a car engine, modify it and sell my modification.

Supplimentary documentation, and schematics are a separate matter - but engine itself is not protected. Software itself is protected, you can do nothing..