[OT] Copyright Question

[William Marriott]

No, you do not need to affix a copyright notice in order for something 
to be protected.

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html


Joe Lewis Wilkins wrote:
> Hey Roger,
> 
> Though I don't pretend to "know" this for a fact, in my copyright 
> research many years ago, I discovered that if something is published 
> without a proper copyright notice then the published item is 
> automatically in the public domain; And one cannot subsequently publish 
> that same item WITH a copyright notice expecting to remove it from the 
> public domain; so if, as you say, the item has no copyright notice 
> affixed to it, you should feel free to use it in any manner you see fit; 
> though, personally, I would utilize some sort of "disclaimer" that would 
> inform others as to its status. And you had better look everywhere that 
> such a notice may be concealed. You should NOT attempt to copyright it 
> yourself, but attribute it to the original creator if at all possible. 
> Additionally, you are not required to Register items you copyright, but 
> proving the validity of your copyright at a later date, if you do not, 
> is virtually impossible. So you may as a last ditch effort, try to find 
> out if a copyright for the item was ever Registered. If not, then you 
> are really safe in using it.
> 
> Consequently, if you create anything that you expect you will eventually 
> wish to copyright for yourself, you should affix a proper copyright 
> notice to it even when you publish it very narrowly by sending a copy to 
> a single individual. And, eventually, you should register the copyright. 
> All of our emails, for example, since none of us apply CR notices to 
> them, are in the public domain.
> 
> JMHO,
> 
> Joe Wilkins
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Aug 15, 2009, at 8:43 PM, Steve Jones wrote:
> 
>> The short answer is, if you didn't produce it and can't secure the 
>> rights or prove it is in the public domain, you can't without risking 
>> a lawsuit at a later date.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Aug 15, 2009, at 10:32 PM, Roger Guay 
>> <irog at mac.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have a great video that I would like to use in promotional 
>>> materials. I can't remember where it came from, it has no copyright 
>>> info on it, and I have diligently searched the web for it's origin to 
>>> no avail. How can I legally use this video?
>>>
>>> TIA and cheers,
>>> Roger