Copyright notice

Copyright notice

A copyright notice, either as symbol or phrase, informs users of the underlying claim to copyright ownership in a published work.

Copyright law is different from country to country, and a copyright notice is required in about 20 countries for a work to be protected under copyright.[1] Before 1989 all published works in the US had to contain a copyright notice, the © symbol followed by the publication date and copyright owner's name, to be protected by copyright. This is no longer the case and use of a copyright notice is now optional in the US, though they may still be used as a deterrent against infringement, or as a notice that the owner intends on holding their claim to copyright.[2]

Contents

Technical requirements

© is the copyright symbol

There are technical requirements as to the information a copyright notice must contain. In the US a copyright notice must contain the copyright symbol (a lower case letter c completely surrounded by a circle), or its equivalent in computer code. The word "copyright" or the abbreviation "Copr." are also accepted in the US, but not in other countries. Works distributed outside the US use the © symbol. The copyright notice must also contain the year in which the work was first published, and the name of the copyright owner, which may be the author, the legal owner of the work made for hire, or the person or entity to whom the copyright has been transferred. According to US Copyright Office regulations the copyright notice must not be concealed from an ordinary user's view.[1]

Overstatement of rights

Legal scholar Wendy Seltzer has pointed out how many organizations overstate their rights in the copyright notice. For her law class in 2007, Seltzer copied the televised copyright notice of the NFL, during the 2007 Superbowl, using her rights under fair use. She then posted this snippet to YouTube. The NFL sent an official DMCA request to YouTube that the recording be removed. Seltzer, who had expected this, challenged the takedown, and the snippet was restored.[3] Seltzer has also posted the overreaching claims of the Major League Baseball.[4]

See also

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • copyright notice — The formal notice consisting of the copyright symbol (or word, copyright), plus the date of publication and the owner s name, placed on published copies of a copyrighted work. For works published in the U.S. after March 1, 1989, copyright notice… …   Law dictionary

  • copyright notice —    The © symbol, plus the date of publication and the author s name. Under the Berne Convention, a copyright notice is no longer required for all forms of copyright protection, but it remains a useful reminder that the work is copyrighted …   Business law dictionary

  • copyright notice — A necessary notice in the form required by law which is placed in each published copy of the work copyrighted. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C.A. No. 401 …   Black's law dictionary

  • copyright notice — A necessary notice in the form required by law which is placed in each published copy of the work copyrighted. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C.A. No. 401 …   Black's law dictionary

  • copyright notice — See notice of copyright …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • copyright notice — /ˌkɒpiraɪt nəυtɪs/ noun a note in a book showing who owns the copyright and the date of ownership …   Dictionary of banking and finance

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  • Copyright symbol — © redirects here. For the band, see © (band). © Copyright symbol Punctuation apostrophe …   Wikipedia

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