08-28-2004, 04:44 AM
legally "copyrighted"?
According to law in the US (and most other countries) a piece of work is copywritten as soon as it's created. If the creator can prove they created it in a court of law then they are entitled to all the protections accorded by the law.
Registering a copyright is just one of the most sure ways of proving you've created something. For me, once a month I take all the images I've created, burn them to a CD and mail them to myself. The date stamp on an envelope is enough to prove date of creation in a court of law and that way I don't have to register every single image with a copyright office.
Trademarks and patents are entirely different issues that I don't know that well. I know that Harvey's (a hamburger chain up here in Canada) has successfully trademarked a specific shade of orange and Nike has successfully copywritten "Just Do It". The differences between the three are as follows, Copyright protects a specific work such as a painting, recording or sculpture. Trademark protects a signature that is associated with a company or individual such as a phrase, character, or even colour. Patents protect original ideas and are mostly used for inventions (and I actually know the least about even though the people I know who hold patents are super proud of them).
Now that I'm totally off from my original post. That little copyright symbol on a page is NOT required as a proof of copyright. It does help to identify the owner of a piece of art in a law suit or if it is produced somewhere that the original creator doesn't have control over (like ads in a magazine).
According to law in the US (and most other countries) a piece of work is copywritten as soon as it's created. If the creator can prove they created it in a court of law then they are entitled to all the protections accorded by the law.
Registering a copyright is just one of the most sure ways of proving you've created something. For me, once a month I take all the images I've created, burn them to a CD and mail them to myself. The date stamp on an envelope is enough to prove date of creation in a court of law and that way I don't have to register every single image with a copyright office.
Trademarks and patents are entirely different issues that I don't know that well. I know that Harvey's (a hamburger chain up here in Canada) has successfully trademarked a specific shade of orange and Nike has successfully copywritten "Just Do It". The differences between the three are as follows, Copyright protects a specific work such as a painting, recording or sculpture. Trademark protects a signature that is associated with a company or individual such as a phrase, character, or even colour. Patents protect original ideas and are mostly used for inventions (and I actually know the least about even though the people I know who hold patents are super proud of them).
Now that I'm totally off from my original post. That little copyright symbol on a page is NOT required as a proof of copyright. It does help to identify the owner of a piece of art in a law suit or if it is produced somewhere that the original creator doesn't have control over (like ads in a magazine).
Gullible isn't in the dictionary.