On Wed, 3 Mar 1999, Alan Pinstein wrote:
> >You might want to double-check exactly what you need to write. It
> >*used* to be that "(C)" was not sufficient for indicating copyright
> >You needed either to have a c within a circle or to have spelled out
> >"copyright" in its entirety.
>
> Yes, you should use the c with a circle (option-g on macs)... I didn't use
> that character b/c I didn't think it'd make it through email:
>
> � <-- Was I right?
Got it, but this shouldn't matter extraordinarily. Your copyright on the
work is _automatic_, in the modern conventions, regardless of what do you
or don't put on it, and there isn't a need for magic words. (Previously,
"All Rights Reserved" was necessary in most situations, among other
things.)
My understanding (IANAL) is that the notice is now serving purely as that,
a notice, and as a statement of any unusual (All rights reserved, GPL,
etc.) rights that the copyright holder is giving/restricting.
You do indeed get more protection by filing with the copyright office (and
I didn't think you needed to file the entire source, just a
"representative sample" -- they were overflowing with paper the last time
I heard), but this does not make your copyright "stronger", so much as
making it far easier for a court to decide in your favour. (So much easier
that if you have not filed, there's not much point in proceeding to
court.)
> >Bottom line...if it's really important, it's worth the upfront cost to
> >get advice from an intellectual property attorney.
>
> Yes. If you plan on making lots of $$$ from the product, TALK TO A LAWYER
> before release. Otherwise you're basically out of luck.
Agreed.
--
Kenneth Albanowski ([EMAIL PROTECTED], CIS: 70705,126)
