🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9009061458.AA02523@wubios.wustl.edu> david@WUBIOS.WUSTL.EDU (David J. Camp) writes:
>I am confused.  I seem to have heard a rumor that an author can invoke
>some kind of ownership priviliege over a work to which he/she has
>attached no copyright notice.
>
>Is this true?  I have been making tailspins trying to resolve ownership
>issues on a multiple-author program which previously had no copyright
>notice.
>

Yes, it's true. The Berne Convention (which covers copyright of
literary works) explicitly forbids any signatory parties to require
formalism in order for the author to get copyright to his work.

For formalism, read 'copyright notice' or sending copies in triplicate
to the Patent Office or similar stuff.

This, of course, is true only for members of the Berne Convention.
Until early this year(?), the US, was *not* a member. US was instead a
member of the World Convention, which permitted formalism/copyright
notices.

Now that the US has signed the Berne Convention, new works don't
require copyright notices for protection *in the Berne group*.  There
are still countries who remain at 'World Convention' level - you'll
need a copyright notice to get protection in those countries.

>I would appreciate an authoritative (preferrably a 'real' lawyer's)
>opinion, rather than a lot of speculation about the possibilities. 

Well, you know what they say about free lunches ... authoritative
opinions ain't free either. Talk to a copyright lawyer if you wan't
*real* advice.  That's my advice.

Here's the net lawyer talking: :-)

The program you are concerned about wouldn't stand a chance under
World Convention rules as far as I can see. It would need a copyright
notice with the year of the first 'publication', and you can't provide
that. Sorry.

You might be able to claim the current release of the program (which
would correspond to a new edition of the literary work) to be a new
work, and get protection for that under the Berne rules. 

But I do doubt that you have any protection for the earlier versions,
if they were released pre-Berne.

-- 
Anders Thulin       ath@prosys.se   {uunet,mcsun}!sunic!prosys!ath
Telesoft Europe AB, Teknikringen 2B, S-583 30 Linkoping, Sweden