When you write copy you have the right to copyright the copy you write, if the copy is right. If however, your copy falls over, you must right your copy. If you write religious services you write rite, and have the right to copyright the rite you write.
Very conservative people write right copy, and have the right to copyright the right copy they write. A right wing cleric would write right rite, and has the right to copyright the right rite he has the right to write. His editor has the job of making the right rite copy right before the copyright can be right.
Should Jim Wright decide to write right rite, then Wright would write right rite, which Wright has the right to copyright. Duplicating that rite would copy Wright right rite, and violate copyright, which Wright would have the right to right.
Right?

Processes, plans and creative works NOT protected by PATENT or COPYRIGHT are said to be in the public domain. This includes works whose copyrights have expired and as of 1986 34% of land in the US.

Crochet or writing programs or any other simple thing is only simple because it is known, until that time it has not been invented or discovered yet. Depending on the fortitude of spirit and/or pocketbook of the inventor/discoverer it may be copyrighted or not. The process is very involved, lengthy and extremely expensive, therefore few persist.

Share and free ware is so, simply because the creator(s) either have no interest in making money, yes Virginia there are such persons about, or they do not have the resources ($$$$$) to launch the product with massive advertising, usually involving tons of money and some babe selling the product on TV, magazines and posters.

The other angle here is the "lost leader" approach, ie offer something for free in the hope of getting the product know or just attracting shoppers (that one or two items advertised in the grocery store flyer that will make it tempting to do all your shopping there) done daily in your local paper. Many companies started that way when they or their products were unknown simply because they did not have the money to do massive advertising.

COPYRIGHT is the exclusive right of an author, artist or publisher to publish or sell a work. Anyone reproducing a copyrighted work without permission of the copyright holder is liable to be sued for damages and ordered to stop publication or distribution.

Books, plays, musical compositions, periodicals, motion pictures, photographs, designs and other works of art, maps and charts, speeches and lectures may be copyrighted in the US. This involves publishing the work with the statutory copyright notice (usually followed by the year and copyright owner's name). Copies and a registration fee must be lodged with the US Copyright Office. The first US Copyright Act of 1790 protected only books, maps and charts, but later legislation included other works. Current US copyright law grants exclusive rights for the creator's life plus 50 years, after which the work becomes public domain.

International agreements protect rights of authors in the markets of other countries.

The Buenos Aires Convention protects copyright among 17 Western countries including the US. The Universal Copyright Convention covers over 50 nations including the US.