Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!mtxinu!rtech!cpsc6a!cpsc6b!crs
From: crs@cpsc6b.cpsc6a.att.com (Chris (Is it Friday yet?!?!?) Seaman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: PD or Shareware Copyrights
Message-ID: <556@cpsc6b.cpsc6a.att.com>
Date: 26 Jun 89 18:06:08 GMT
References: <18195@louie.udel.EDU> <18280@louie.udel.EDU> <18058@usc.edu>
Organization: AT&T (CPSC), Oakland, CA
Lines: 54

In article <18058@usc.edu>, papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) writes:
< In article <18280@louie.udel.EDU> new@udel.EDU (Darren New) writes:
< >Before you can sue for violation of copyright, you
< >must register that copyright with the federal government, which basically
< >entails filling out a form (no laywer needed) and sending it in with
< >a copy (or two, I forget) of the work and a $25-$50 fee. 
< 
< It is not the federal government but the Copyright Office, and the fee is
< only $10.

I was once told (by someone who claimed to have advised by an attorney) that
if you were to take your work (i.e., source code, artwork, or whatever),
put in an envelope (or diskette mailer), seal it in such a way that a
postal mark would cover the seal, and mail it to yourself, that this
would be binding evidence of copyright in court.  Does this still hold
under the Berne Convention?

< >Note that if
< >you put the copyright notice on, and then someone copies it, and then you 
< >register it, you can still sue but you can't get some of the 
< >punitive (sp?) damages. 
< 
< Not entirely true. You have three (months) from publication date to register
< and get rights to punitive damages.

Do you have the responsibility to prove the date of publication?  I guess
what I am curious about is source code (copyrighted) that is distributed
via Usenet (or other networks).  After three months, it might be difficult
prove original distribution date.  Or, more importantly, does posting
to Usenet constitute publication?

< >It is not legal to use (C) or Copyrighted.
< >The little c in a circle is OK (and is in the Amiga ROM fonts somewhere).
< 
< Again, since the US has joined the Berne Convention this is no longer
< entirely true, but to be on the safe side I would still do it.

Are you sure about this?  I've seen a number of printed manuals use '(C)',
primarily since the printing mechanism didn't support the 'cirle c' symbol.

< >DISCLAIMER: I'm not a lawyer. I just have a layman's knowledge about it.
< DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer either, though I have one and have registered
< copyrighted material.  I found that getting advice from a "real" lawyer,
< though expensive, turns out to pay off down the line.

DISCLAIMER: Amen.

< -- Marco Papa 'Doc'

-- 
Chris (Insert phrase here) Seaman |    ___-/^\-___      bIyIn nI' je chep.
crs@cpsc6a.att.com <or>           |  //__--\O/--__\\       (Look it up
...!att!cpsc6a!crs                | //             \\        in your
The Home of the Killer Smiley     | `\             /'   Klingon Dictionary)