🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct12.182241.11112@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jgeniec@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Joseph A Geniec) writes:
>     I am a new shareware developer, and I intend to upload my
>software to BBS's. What is the best way I can go about
>copyrighting shareware?
>
>                                             J.G.

  Simple inclusion of a copyright notice:

        Copyright (c) MeMyself AndI, 1992
        All rights reserved

  is totally sufficient to secure copyright *protection*.  This notice
  should be included at the top of all source files and any other file
  or document that might be inspected independently.  It is NOT necessary
  to put the notice on every page or on every so many lines.  The assumption
  is that anyone inspecting the work will look at the front of it in order
  to determine its copyright status.  

  Securing copyright *protection* and actually being able to recover
  damages from violators are two different things.  If you have in fact
  copyrighted a work AND published it (the act of publication turns it
  into a copyrightable work) you are protected from the date of publication
  but you are not permitted to actually sue anyone for a violation UNTIL
  YOU REGISTER your copyright.  This is done by filing a form along with
  some amount of money (about $50 or so, although it may have gone up 
  given the $4 trillion dollar deficit :-) and a required copy of your
  work with the Copyright Office in Washington D.C. (or one of its
  regional offices).  Once the form is filed, you have a statutory
  copyright which gives you grounds to sue for damages against anyone
  violating your copyright.  While you can only get statutory damages from
  date of registration, the fact that you had NOT registered does not
  preclude you from establishing actual loss of revenues or profits.
  These may be recovered AFTER registration for losses incurred prior
  to registration.  In all cases, you must have provided the proper
  notices on all published works in order to be protected at all.

  Good luck,

  Jon Rosen

In article <1992Oct13.063649.2027@RedBrick.COM> jfr@RedBrick.COM () writes:
>In article <1992Oct12.182241.11112@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jgeniec@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Joseph A Geniec) writes:
>>     I am a new shareware developer, and I intend to upload my
>>software to BBS's. What is the best way I can go about
>>copyrighting shareware?
>>
>>                                             J.G.
>
>  Simple inclusion of a copyright notice:
>
>        Copyright (c) MeMyself AndI, 1992
>        All rights reserved
>
>  is totally sufficient to secure copyright *protection*.  This notice
      Use of a notice on works published on or after March 1, 1989
      is voluntary, not required for copyright protection .

>  should be included at the top of all source files and any other file
>  or document that might be inspected independently.  It is NOT necessary
>  to put the notice on every page or on every so many lines.  The assumption
>  is that anyone inspecting the work will look at the front of it in order
>  to determine its copyright status.  
>
>  Securing copyright *protection* and actually being able to recover
>  damages from violators are two different things.  If you have in fact
>  copyrighted a work AND published it (the act of publication turns it
>  into a copyrightable work) you are protected from the date of publication
         Not since U.S. joined Berne Convention.  See below

>  but you are not permitted to actually sue anyone for a violation UNTIL
>  YOU REGISTER your copyright.  This is done by filing a form along with
>  some amount of money (about $50 or so, although it may have gone up 
>         The fee is $20 and the form is Form TX for literary works,
          which is how a computer program is processed.  Processing
          time is about 12 weeks.  

>  given the $4 trillion dollar deficit :-) and a required copy of your
>  work with the Copyright Office in Washington D.C. (or one of its
>  regional offices).  Once the form is filed, you have a statutory
                     Once registration issues, 

>  copyright which gives you grounds to sue for damages against anyone
>  violating your copyright.  While you can only get statutory damages from
>  date of registration, the fact that you had NOT registered does not
>  preclude you from establishing actual loss of revenues or profits.
>  These may be recovered AFTER registration for losses incurred prior
>  to registration.  In all cases, you must have provided the proper
>  notices on all published works in order to be protected at all.
         See above.  Notice on published works since March 1, 1989
         is voluntary, not required for copyright protection.
         Copyright protection begins when a work is fixed in
         tangible medium (ie, on paper, film, disk, tape, etc.)


>
>  Good luck,
>
>  Jon Rosen


-- 
Elaine L. Hubbard
hubbarde@cis15.b3.ingr.com

"Life is a play with a badly written third act"

In article <1992Oct13.063649.2027@RedBrick.COM> jfr@RedBrick.COM writes:
>In article <1992Oct12.182241.11112@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jgeniec@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Joseph A Geniec) writes:
>>     I am a new shareware developer, and I intend to upload my
>>software to BBS's. What is the best way I can go about
>>copyrighting shareware?
>>
>>                                             J.G.
>
>  Simple inclusion of a copyright notice:
>
>        Copyright (c) MeMyself AndI, 1992
>        All rights reserved
>
>  is totally sufficient to secure copyright *protection*.

I have a tangential question here;  what is the current status of
c-in-parentheses as a substitute for c-in-a-circle as a copyright symbol?
It's widely used, but does it have any effect on the validity of the
copyright notice (for good or bad)?

jrbd@craycos.com (James Davies) writes:

>In article <1992Oct13.063649.2027@RedBrick.COM> jfr@RedBrick.COM writes:
>>In article <1992Oct12.182241.11112@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jgeniec@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Joseph A Geniec) writes:
>>>     I am a new shareware developer, and I intend to upload my
>>>software to BBS's. What is the best way I can go about
>>>copyrighting shareware?
>>>
>>>                                             J.G.
>>
>>  Simple inclusion of a copyright notice:
>>
>>        Copyright (c) MeMyself AndI, 1992
>>        All rights reserved
>>
>>  is totally sufficient to secure copyright *protection*.

>I have a tangential question here;  what is the current status of
>c-in-parentheses as a substitute for c-in-a-circle as a copyright symbol?
>It's widely used, but does it have any effect on the validity of the
>copyright notice (for good or bad)?

The copyright office has not yet changed their regulations regarding 
c-in-a-circle and has not said that c-in-paren. is an acceptable 
substitute.  Section 401 still says the letter c-in-a-circle or the
word Copyright or the abbreviation Copr.

Therefore, why try to make new law? ?;-)  At least one court has said
that the parenthesis is no good.  Do you really want to spend your time
trying to convince a judge that it is the same?  And as pointed out
above, lack of notice is no longer fatal under Berne (although if one
of my clients leaves it out my bills double for the next month).  There is
a real value to doing it "right", and actually using a proper notice.  It
takes away any defense from a potential infringer, and isn't that the
point of copyright protection in the first place?

Good luck!   Rich G.
-- 
Richard D. Goldstein
Schiller & Kusmer
Patent Attorneys At Law
(617) 227-5454 Telephone

jrbd@craycos.com (James Davies) writes:

>In article <1992Oct13.063649.2027@RedBrick.COM> jfr@RedBrick.COM writes:
>>In article <1992Oct12.182241.11112@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jgeniec@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Joseph A Geniec) writes:
>>>     I am a new shareware developer, and I intend to upload my
>>>software to BBS's. What is the best way I can go about
>>>copyrighting shareware?
>>>
>>>                                             J.G.
>>
>>  Simple inclusion of a copyright notice:
>>
>>        Copyright (c) MeMyself AndI, 1992
>>        All rights reserved
>>
>>  is totally sufficient to secure copyright *protection*.

>I have a tangential question here;  what is the current status of
>c-in-parentheses as a substitute for c-in-a-circle as a copyright symbol?
>It's widely used, but does it have any effect on the validity of the
>copyright notice (for good or bad)?

Will not address use of (c) directly except to say it is not accepted
yet by C/R office.

However, since we (the U.S.) joined the Berne convention (March 1, 1989),

In article <1992Oct13.063649.2027@RedBrick.COM> jfr@RedBrick.COM writes:

>  If you have in fact copyrighted a work AND published it (the act of
>  publication turns it into a copyrightable work) you are protected from
>  the data of publication...

Actually, under US copyright law, a work is considered copyrighted when it
is created.  All works are protected for the life of the author plus 50
years (if the copyright is held by an individual) or 75 years (if held by
a corporation).

>  into a copyrightable work) you are protected from the date of publication
>  but you are not permitted to actually sue anyone for a violation UNTIL
>  YOU REGISTER your copyright.  This is done by filing a form along with
>  some amount of money (about $50 or so, although it may have gone up 
>  given the $4 trillion dollar deficit :-)

True, although I thought the fee was more on the order of $10, but it's
been a while since I've checked on this.

>  In all cases, you must have provided the proper notices on all published
>  works in order to be protected at all.

This is not actually true.  US copyrights are permissive, i.e. a work is
assumed to be copyrighted unless explicitly placed in the public domain or
the existing copyright has expired.  However, it is much harder to prove
copyright infringement without the notice, so it is always a good idea to
include it.  And a notice line of "(c) 1992 YourName" is not considered a
legal copyright notice.  The c has to be in a _unbroken_ circle, so when
typing your notice in the source code, always use "Copyright 1992 YourName"
(the "(c)" is often included after "Copyright", but has no legal status).

-- 
Charles Rutledge  /  NCR Test Program Development   |      NCR Corporation 
Internet: Charles.Rutledge@PeachtreeCityGA.NCR.COM  |  The Networked Computing
ATT: (404) 487-7000 Ext 7523 / Fax: (404) 487-7089  |     Resource Of AT&T