My sister is a professional artist and read in a published book that if an artist puts the copyright (c) symbol, the year, and his or her name, nobody can make money off of his or her work for the rest of his or her life and fifty years beyond that. Does this apply to the films I make in FCE? I've something that will be distributed widely and I'd like to protect it. Thanks.
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Copyrights?
- Thread starter iMacZealot
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Can I use the (c) symbol, or do I have to pay for that? 
http://www.copyright.gov/register/performing.html
http://www.copyright.gov/register/performing.html
iMacZealot said:
Actually, the © symbol is owned by the government, and since the government hasn't died yet, you can't use it unless they license it to you for a goodly sum.
Oh dear...I just used it...and without permission. I hope that the U.S. Patent & Trademark patent attorneys don't come and sue me!
For the record,
to all of what I just said.asherman13 said:Actually, the © symbol is owned by the government, and since the government hasn't died yet, you can't use it unless they license it to you for a goodly sum.
Oh dear...I just used it...and without permission. I hope that the U.S. Patent & Trademark patent attorneys don't come and sue me!
For the record,
LOL! I can't believe people are paying the Library of Congress $30 a pop to use the © symbol!
You don't need to register to use the symbol. But you should register if you think that the work will have real financial value. Here's why.iMacZealot said:Can I use the (c) symbol, or do I have to pay for that?
I'm making a website for a (small) church and I wanted to place:
© "insert name of church here". All rights reserved.
...at the bottom. Can I legally do this? (and will it do me any good)?
© "insert name of church here". All rights reserved.
...at the bottom. Can I legally do this? (and will it do me any good)?
asherman13 said:Actually, the © symbol is owned by the government, and since the government hasn't died yet, you can't use it unless they license it to you for a goodly sum.
Oh dear...I just used it...and without permission. I hope that the U.S. Patent & Trademark patent attorneys don't come and sue me!
For the record,
Oh dear...you've lost it.
Feel free to use © with abandon...it's your right to do so.
Edit: Yes, EricNau...you can do this. It doesn't really give you much more power (the copyright exists whether you have the symbol or not), but it does serve as a reminder to potential infringers that you own the content.
It's not to USE the copyrihgt symbol, it is to have PROOF that you created your thing before the other guy created the same thing.iMacZealot said:
Copyright is inherent in any work -- it exists as soon as the work is created.
CanadaRAM said:
Registering with the Copyright Office gives you the right to win monetary damages from an infringer. Without registration, I believe you can only stop them from infringing, but you can't get any money from them.
CanadaRAM said:
But of course, there's no point in doing so if I'm just making a simple four minute movie that will be prominent on a fairly large website?