US copyright

[John Tenny]

An earlier message said.... "Copyright in the US is quite different 
from that in Australia. Over there
you need to register the software to claim copyright."

I'm not a lawyer (disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer), but when I last 
checked into copyright, all that was required is that the creator print 
the word "copyright" and the date on the product (the copyright symbol 
is also acceptable) and it's copyrighted.

You CAN register your copyright to avoid any legal hassles by two 
people who both claim copyright, but it's not required. A cheap way 
that one can do the same thing is to put the product in an envelope and 
mail it to yourself. The postage cancellation on the UNOPENED package 
serves as proof of copyright date.

Note that a copyright is different from a patent, as the earlier 
messages indicated. A copyright will not protect a process.

If you read the fine print on a product it will often say "Patent 
pending", but never "copyright pending" as there is no approval system 
for copyrights.

If this topic is important to you, don't pay any attention to any of 
this. I'm not a lawyer and am just making it all up.

John