Sandeep,
Copyright, as distinct from Patents or Trademarks, is not something that
you get. It is intrinsic to the act of creation of an "Artistic
Work". Artistic, as in Artisan, not Modern Art.
When you "create" a work, as in write an essay in school, Copyright
exists. In the absence of any "assignment", such copyright vests in the
"author". However, a work may lose copyright "protection" (not the
copyright), and be considered to be in the "Public Domain". Please note
that laws provide "copyright protection", not "copyright".
One of the ways to lose protection is by not "enforcing" it. This
principle holds in British, and derived, law, for most "common law"
rights. For example, if I have a farm, and villagers have had unfettered
access across it for over 7 years, a "right of way" exists. I do not lose
ownership of the land, but I may no longer be able to forbid people to use
the path. It is therefore essential that I defend my rights. For
property, this is done by placing "Private Property" boards. Absence
weakens my cause against a trespasser.
The message "Copyright 1999 Linus Trovalds" is thus required by the
Copyright Owner to be displayed. Failure to require this display could
cause a defendant in suit to claim that the Owner had no previous interest
in his property, and that the "Work" is in the "Public Domain".
As to what actual rights you have, that depends on the Jusrisdiction where
you may wish to enforce them. The Berne Convention provides a near-uniform
interpretation of the principles between signatories. In India, unless you
are Rabindranath Tagore, protection of your rights will lapse a fixed
interval after your demise; or a fixed interval after "publication". If
you are Tagore's Estate, you get Parliament to rubber-stamp extensions for
you, but that is another story.
In general, Copyright != Patent != Trademark != Registered Trademark.
And another thing. Copyright Messages must be in the format:
Copyright Year of Publication, The Author
The word "Copyright" may be replaced with the c in a circle
symbol. However, I am not aware of any law or case law allowing the "(c)"
notation. Unless you can get a precedent in case law on this, I would
advise you to right it out in full if the symbol is unavailable.
IANAL, but that doesn't stop me talking like one. Words "quoted" above may
not necessarily have their common meanings. There are other issues as
well, such as Fair Use, etc, but that, again, is another story.
HTH
-- Ghane
At 03:58 PM 7/16/2000 +0530, you wrote:
>I keep seeing statements like
>
> (c) 1999-2000. blah-blah Inc. All rights reserved.
>
>
>How do you get national/international copyrights? What all rights are they
>reserving? How much ineternationally valid are they?
>
>Where do I get more info on questions like these??
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