Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ames!ptsfa!ihnp4!gargoyle!mason From: mason@gargoyle.UUCP Newsgroups: misc.legal,comp.sources.d,comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: How to Copyright Message-ID: <620@gargoyle.UChicago.EDU> Date: Thu, 26-Mar-87 21:21:58 EST Article-I.D.: gargoyle.620 Posted: Thu Mar 26 21:21:58 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 28-Mar-87 11:36:56 EST References: <42@ethz.UUCP> <2823@well.UUCP> <8788@decwrl.DEC.COM> <865@bucsb.bu.edu.UUCP> Reply-To: mason@gargoyle.uchicago.edu.UUCP (Tony Mason) Organization: U. of Chicago, Computer Science Dept. Lines: 61 Xref: utgpu misc.legal:963 comp.sources.d:500 comp.unix.questions:1521 In article <865@bucsb.bu.edu.UUCP> madd@bucsb.bu.edu.UUCP (Jim "Jack" Frost) writes: >In article <8788@decwrl.DEC.COM> reid@decwrl.UUCP (Brian Reid) writes: >> >>Please keep in mind that the person who posted the "How to Copyright" >>question lives in Switzerland. Copyright mechanisms vary from nation to >>nation, and not every country honors every other country's copyright laws. >>If the question is "How to Copyright in Switzerland", the answer is likely to >>be quite different from "How to Copyright in the USA". > >I missed the original article I guess, but how to copyright in the US >is easy. First, it is perfectly legal to just put a notice on your >stuff (programs and/of literature) that says either: > > Copyright >or > (c) > >Actually, the order of and probably doesn't matter, >but either of the above is fine. > >While the law says that just putting the notice in an obvious place >constitutes copyright, it's "more" legally binding to fill out a >form and file it with the government. The form is form TX and is >available from the Library of Congress. When I asked them for one, >they sent me about five copies and LOTS of literature on the copyright >laws and what they mean. It costs about $10 to filethe form. I guess >the form is just used to "prove" that the program was made by you when >you said it was. This would definitely help in court, so I suggest >filing a form if you're worried about it. > Note: 1. There was, last time I heard, question as to whether or not (C) was a legitimate copyright symbol. The stuff I read said "don't use it." 2. You also want the line "All Rights Reserved" on there for some South American countries (Pan-American Copyright stuff, I think...) where otherwise they can do strange things with it. 3. Form TX is the correct form. You must file the first and last 50 pages of source code, and the fee is $10. The difference between filed and unfiled copyrights are in collectable damages. If it is registered, damages are trebled (just like anti-trust) while if it isn't, they aren't. You can file any time, but violations prior to filing are not treble damage, while violations after are. An interesting side-effect of the first/last 50 page rule is that you can file a 20,000 page program, get copyright protection and yet still maintain trade secret stuff (the other 19,900 pages). Although some of this stuff changes (mostly in court precedents) the basic framework is in the 1976 and 1980 copyright acts. To the best of my knowledge the above is correct. I am not an attorney and if you REALLY have something valuable, I suggest you contact one. The few hundred dollars it will cost will give you an education in copyright law. Also, there are a few good books. Check your local computer bookstore. Tony Mason Univ. of Chicago, Dept. of C.S. mason@anubis.uchicago.edu