Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!uwvax!umn-d-ub!nic.MR.NET!shamash!nis!sialis!rjg
From: rjg@sialis.mn.org (Robert J. Granvin)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: Copyright Law Revisited
Message-ID: <897@sialis.mn.org>
Date: 15 Oct 88 10:39:23 GMT
References: <1930@vaxwaller.UUCP> <1988Oct13.173958.11367@utzoo.uucp> <2577@sultra.UUCP>
Reply-To: rjg@sialis.mn.org (Robert J. Granvin)
Organization: Dr. Ho Laboratory and Day Care Center
Lines: 28

>> [...]  the letter c enclosed in parentheses may be the closest
>> approximation to c-in-a-circle that can be produced on limited output devices,
>> but it has zero legal standing.  If you cannot produce a real, complete circle
>> around the c, use the word "Copyright" instead.
>
>Everything I've read on software copyright, have said the (c) was OK.  However,
>they ALWAYS included the word Copyright anyway.  Why not use the *full* label
>anyway;
>
>Copyright (c) 1988, Tynan Computers.  All rights reserved.

The reason you got away with it is because the full word "Copyright"
is present.  The (c) serves absolutely no purpose.  Most people still
include it however, because they discover that many people understand
the concept "(c)" (or c-in-circle) but don't understand the concept
"Copyright". 

(It seems that if people don't see some sort of symbol, they don't
believe it's valid.  Either that, or the word "Copyright" has too many
syllables... :-)

Henry Spencer's original statement above is completely correct.

-- 
"The greatest minds in physics                               Robert J. Granvin
 were stumped- Tom Cruise, John             National Information Systems, Inc.
 Cusack and Rob Lowe all tried                               rjg@sialis.mn.org
 and failed."                     ...{{amdahl,hpda}!bungia,rosevax}!sialis!rjg