Copyright Notice

Is it Really Copyrighted?

Everything that is copyrightable is not necessarily copyrighted.

In some instances organizations and individuals choose not to copyright their work in order to encourage duplication and distribution.

Before January 1, 1978, copyrighted works were required to carry a copyright notice. Lack of a copyright notice indicated lack of copyright protection. A work published under the copyright holder's authority without proper copyright notice automatically entered the public domain. (Note: Due to treaty agreements, works published outside the United States that would have fallen under this may have had their copyright restored and may be protected.)

From January 1, 1978 through February 1989, copyrighted works were still required to carry a valid copyright notice.  Omitting the notice could result in loss of copyright protection if corrective action was not taken within a certain amount of time.

Starting in March 1989, Congress dropped the notice requirement. Absence of copyright notice is no longer a reliable indicator of whether a work is protected.

If a Notice is Used

When a notice is used, copyright law requires that it consist of three elements:

• the symbol © (the letter C in a circle, not the letter C in parenthesis), or the word Copyright, or the abbreviation Copr., and

• the date (some exceptions)

• the name of the owner of the copyrighted work, or an abbreviation or other name by which the owner can be identified

Value of Notice

Where a notice is used, innocent infringement may not be claimed, in most instances, by the defendant of an infringement suit to mitigate actual or statutory damage awards.