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Subject:Re: Is your documentation copyrighted? From:Tracy Boyington <tracy_boyington -at- okvotech -dot- org> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 25 Jan 2000 13:06:03 -0600
> Another common and extremely cheap and easy way to copyright your stuff is
> to simply stuff it into an envelope and mail it to yourself. DON'T OPEN THE
> ENVELOPE, when it comes in. It's the postmark that proves that you were the
> first to smith those words.
This isn't really a way to ~copyright~ your work, since your work is
automatically protected by copyright as soon as you put it in a "fixed form" and
no other maneuvering is necessary. It could be a way to prove when you wrote
something, but I've heard it doesn't hold up in court. Does anybody know if it
really works?
> Officially copyrighting documents isn't hard or expensive,
That's true, because it's automatic and free. :-) *Registering* does involve a
fee, but your work is "officially" protected by copyright even if it's not
registered. Legally you do not even have to use the copyright symbol, but you
should. Registering simply gives you more options should you end up in court,
from what I understand.
