Re: Two questions about Copyright notices

[Tony Chung <tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca>]

The only purpose for copyright dates are to prove primary ownership in
the event of a legal battle. One could obtain proof via other means,
but such evidence will get tossed in court if either party doesn't
have a good lawyer. My main beef with copyright is the lack of
standard means for writing the statement, which I addressed in my blog
post:

http://tonychung.ca/2009/04/professional-copyright-statements/

As for Kevin's question, the choice of copyright date is up to the
creator. Is it more important for the work to be protected from an
earlier time period, (e.g. 2009), or to provide the illusion of
presenting material that is current with the times, (e.g. 2010)?

>From a content standpoint, has enough significant content been changed
after the first release, which warrants a new edition? In that case I
would recommend a:

First edition © 2009 {author/publishing company}
Second edition © 2010 {author/publishing company}

You could also designate specific additions or changes that fall
outside the different editions.

Note that I am not a lawyer, and often do only what is reasonable with
regards to copyright dating. At the end of the day, is anyone really
going to dispute your method of presenting a set of steps in an online
help package? You're not protecting the technology (the patent covers
that). You're protecting the documentation deliverable.

Cheers,

-- 
Tony Chung: Creative Communications
Cell: +1-604-710-5164
Email: tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca * Web: http://tonychung.ca
Skype: tonychung.ca * GTalk/MSN: tonychung -dot- ca -at- gmail -dot- com
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