Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!aurora!amelia!ames!ll-xn!oberon!pollux.usc.edu!papa From: papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: copyrights (was: Shareware? Hah!) Message-ID: <7281@oberon.USC.EDU> Date: 29 Feb 88 03:26:13 GMT References: <4815@ihlpg.ATT.COM> <3343@killer.UUCP> <2608@gryphon.CTS.COM> <333@esquire.UUCP> <366@sas.UUCP> Sender: news@oberon.USC.EDU Reply-To: papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Lines: 67 In article <366@sas.UUCP> bts@sas.UUCP (Brian T. Schellenberger) writes: >Just in case you want to know the definitive story: > [portion omitted] > ``For any work published with a notice of copyright the law requires ^^^^^^^^ > the copyright holder to send two copies to the Copyright Office . . . FALSE. The Copyright act of 1980 makes it clear that NO registration with the Copyright Office is REQUIRED. Having registered is useful later when one sues somebody else for copyright infringment. Registration allows the holder to be able to recover "statutory" damages and attorney fees, instead of just "actual" damages. Basically registration gives you the "right to sue". > The deposit is to made within three months of publication, and no fee ^^^^^^ > is required. Failure to make the required deposit does not forfeit > rights under the law . . .'' FALSE AGAIN. Form TX, the one that must be used to register "literary works" (and programs are treated as such), REQUIRES to enclose a check or money order for $10 payable to the Register of Copyrights. >1. I am not sure whether (c) is really a valid substitute for C-in-a-circle, > so this may be a good reason to use ``Copyright (c) 1988 . . .'' Maybe As somebody else has already pointed out, IT IS NOT. See Copyright Law, 17 USC, Section 401(b). No foreign country recognizes (c) as a valid copyright symbol. >2. Since there is no penalty for not sending in the copies (unless, as the ^^^^^^^^^^ > quote says later, specifically asked to by the Registar of Copyrights), > there is no real reason to bother. Perhaps a lawyer could tell use why > they bother making something ``illegal'' but giving it no penalty. ^^^^^^^ Gee, what kind of junk were you reading? NOT REGISTERING with the copyright office is PERFECTLY LEGAL. Registration protects you, the copyright holder, not somebody else. >3. You can get extra protection in an infringement suit by registering > your work when sending copies if you want to. The two things cannot be separated. If you decide to register with the copyright office, you will be REQUIRED to make a deposit, which means sending copies of source code. Normally one can request "special relief", which means one has to deposit ONLY the first and last 25 pages of the program, instead of the whole thing. >4. Posting an item to the net or any other public forum would seem to meet > the legal definition of ``publishing,'' but again perhaps more of an > expert could fill us in. Yes, posting on a public forum like a network is equivalent to publishing. I recommend to all a good reading: "How to Copyright Software", by Attorney M.J. Salone, published by NOLO Press, 950 Parker St., Berkeley, CA 94710. It covers ALL aspect of US and International copyright law, the registation process, types of valid copyright notices, how to ask special relief so that the copyright office will accept your request and sample filled out registartion forms. I used it to register a program of mine and all went as it was supposed to. -- Marco