Re: Copyright puntuation

[Peter Neilson <neilson -at- alltel -dot- net>]

Check out the information from the Library of Congress at
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#cr

It appears that the "c in circle" and/or the word Copyright,
plus the date first published, are the usual choice.  There
is no longer any legal necessity for the notice, but it does
serve to indicate that copyright is claimed, and that there is
no intent for the work to be in the public domain.

LC's copyright office seems to take no stand on the punctuation,
but to me the period seems appropriate, because "all rights
reserved" is a sentence in passive voice with an elided
auxiliary verb.

I remember reading somewhere that "all rights reserved" is an old
phrase that no longer carries legal meaning, but it likely does no
harm.  At one time it was found in a plethora of languages in
some books, "todos los derechos reservados," "toutes droites
reserve," "alle Rechte vorbehalten," "tutti i diritti riservati,"
and so forth.  The words still appear on some web pages, perhaps
having legal meaning in their home countries.  For those who
like finding weird web pages, google for "all rights reversed".

Beverley Henderson wrote:

> Help. Where I work, we have stirred up a tempest in a teapot by 
questioning how our current copyright notice is punctuated. Marketing, 
legal, product development, and business analysts/technical writers (and 
we don't all agree) are involved. We need a sane, authoritative opinion 
to settle the dust.
>
> What is the proper way to punctuate this notice? What are the proper 
uses of the copyright and trademark symbols? Currently it appears on the 
company web site, online help, and printed documentation in various formats:
>
> ÂCopyright 2006 Name of Company, LLC All rights reserved
> Â 2006 Name of Company, LLC. All rights reserved.
>  Copyright 2006 Name of Company, LLC all rights reserved
> Â2003 Name of CompanyÂ, LLC. All rights reserved.
>
> Only the Name of Company, (not including LLC) is registered because 
business structure (LLC, Inc., etc.) has changed several times over the 
years.
>
> A related question: Are the words "all rights reserved" a sentence? 
It seems to have no subject and no verb, yet it "looks" incorrect 
without a capital A and a period. Is it imperative mood? or what? If it 
is "not a sentence," should it eschew capitals and periods?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content 
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l 

Doc-To-Help includes a one-click RoboHelp project converter. It's that easy.  Watch the demo at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.