Character encoding & the copyright symbol

[Ben Finney]

Dave Angel <davea at ieee.org> writes:

> But I wanted to comment on the (c) remark.  If you're in the US,
> that's the wrong abbreviation for copyright.  The only recognized
> abbreviation is (copr).

More reading on this:

    <URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Copyright_Convention>
    <URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_symbol>

In brief: To be a legally-recognised copyright notice under US law, it
must begin with “Copyright”, or one of the abbreviations “Copr.” or the
exact symbol “©”. As you rightly point out, neither “(c)” nor “(C)” have
any legal status as a copyright marker.

The Berne Convention, by making copyright active on *every* creative
work of expression, even in the total *absence* of a copyright notice,
essentially undermines the force of this and makes it exceedingly
difficult to divest a work of copyright. But that's a whole 'nother
depressing mess.

-- 
 \         “A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet |
  `\                  keep both ears to the ground.” —Henry L. Mencken |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney