Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!usc!pollux.usc.edu!papa
From: papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: PD or Shareware Copyrights
Message-ID: <18057@usc.edu>
Date: 23 Jun 89 05:41:16 GMT
References: <18195@louie.udel.EDU>
Sender: news@usc.edu
Reply-To: papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa)
Organization: Felsina Software, Los Angeles, CA
Lines: 26

In article <18195@louie.udel.EDU> C503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu (Baird McIntosh) writes:
|I was wondering what anyone's experience has been in getting programs
|copyrighted prior to releasing them to the general populace.  I am interested
|in copyrighting some art/music created on my Amiga and I want to protect it
|before I release it to others.
|     I know a lot of shareware and PD gets labelled with a (C) 19xx message
|in the docs or in the menus of the actual program, but did any of you who have
|included such a 'copyright' actually get a legal (like from a lawyer or court)
|copyright put on the software?  I am a little uninformed in this area.

Programs can be registered with the Copyright Office whether published or
unpublished. You don't need registration to copyright your work, though 
registration will give you more protection in the case of a lawsuit.  For
the best protection, the registration should be filed within 3 months from
the date of publication. You can order the appropriate forms by calling the
Copyright Office at (202)479-0700.  Notice that now the US has joined the
Berne Convention, so things might change somewhat in the near future.  Most
lawyers will tell you that in any case proper registration is still a good 
idea.

-- Marco Papa 'Doc'

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
uucp:...!pollux!papa       BIX:papa       ARPAnet:pollux!papa@oberon.usc.edu
"There's Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Diga and Caligari!" -- Rick Unland
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=