Today’s topic is courtesy of subscriber John Sheriff who asks ... “What website do
we go to get a copyright?”

Since not everyone is familiar with the meaning of “copyright”
and the laws behind it, John is about to get more than he
bargained for! Starting with the basics – and for my friends out
there who wrestle with spelling – this column is about
copywriting ... the art of writing words. What John is asking
about – copyright – is the law that protects those words.

Copyright gives authors or artists the legal right to exclude
others from using their works. These works include words,
software, photographs, music and sound, dance, architecture and
even pantomime, as long as they are recorded in some fashion – on
paper, tape, film, disc and, if I understand correctly, even
saved to a hard drive. Copyright law applies to unpublished as
well as published works.

Whether you realize it or not, if you’re living in the US or
Canada or any other free-world country, you have the right to
protect any original material you’ve ever written – from your
earliest days in school to your most current family holiday
bulletins. Of course you’d have to be able to prove that you
wrote it – and that’s where copyright law comes in to play.

Here in the United States, copyright law goes back hundreds of
years. As you can well imagine, the laws get pretty confusing.
For purposes of this column, we’ll keep the focus on the
Internet and how that directly impacts the material you publish
and/or use online. Copyright law, in theory, protects the
material that you have created from being copied or distributed
without your consent.

Years back, as a direct mail copywriter, I learned that you do
not have to register with the US Copyright Office to have a
valid copyright. In other words, I could add a copyright marking
to this column right now and that would be quite legal:
Copyright (c) Phyllis Schwartz 2003. However it is also the case
that, if I formally registered the copyright, my column would be
better protected.

While neither copyright marking nor formal registration are
required by law, the bottom line is that they do provide you
with additional recourse in the event somebody tries to “help
themselves” to your work. It does cost money to register a
copyright so, unless you feel a strong need for protection, it
may be something you want to think twice about.

By the way, the copyright marking as it appears two paragraphs
above was written “by the book.” You start with the word
“Copyright” followed by the copyright symbol (letter c in a
circle), the year of creation and name of the owner. Example:
Copyright (c) 2003 John Sheriff. :-) Once you create a
copyright, It will be valid for your lifetime plus 50 years.
Since the date in the copyright marking represents the year of
creation, you do not have to change the date from year to year.
Anytime you see a series of dates in a copyright marking, it
means that the work has been modified.

Just as you don’t want people to come along and take your work
without permission, be mindful that it’s a two way street.
Unfortunately, there will always be some people who disregard
all rules and think that anything that appears on their computer
screen is there for the taking. The fact is that, unless it is
material in the public domain – published by the Government or
items with expired copyrights – you may be violating somebody
else’s copyright.

There are many more fine points to the subject of copyrights. If
you want to register a copyright or find out more about the law,
here’s are some websites you can visit:

For the US:         http://www.copyright.gov/
                                          http://www.legalzoom.com/index2.html
                                          http://www.benedict.com/
                                          http://www.copyright.com/
                                          http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/
                                          http://fairuse.stanford.edu/
 
 
For Canada:     http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/cp/cp_main-e.html
                       http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/
                      http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/window/s24-1003-e.html           http://www.vakilno1.com/internationallaw/canada/copyright_act_canada1.htm
 
The UK:      http://www.cla.co.uk/
                                       http://www.patent.gov.uk/copy/
                                     http://www.media-solicitors.co.uk/internet-libel.htm
 
Australia:       http://www.copyright.org.au/page3.htm
                                    http://www.apra.com.au/
                                    http://www.sacentral.sa.gov.au/copyright.html
That is just a partial listing, but more than enough to get you started. Thanks again
to John Sheriff for the question – it’s a subject well worth knowing about. More good
info. coming next Monday. And that, my friends, is today’s last word. Have a great week!
 

Phyllis Schwartz, your copy guide
phylsmac@aol.com

About The Author: Phyllis Schwartz is a longtime copywriter. She clicks from her home office in Ventnor City, New Jersey, a stone’s throw away from Atlantic City. She is offering copywriting services at BetterCopywriting.com

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