TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: copyright issues / binders From:Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET> Date:Fri, 10 May 1996 17:10:00 EST
At 09:24 AM 5/10/96 EST, you wrote:
>Extended message
>CEO document contents:
>Would anyone know if copyright rules are different if your
>documentation is distributed in a binder (where pages can easily be
>removed) rather than in a bound format. I'm interested especially in
>when you have to use the (c), (r), and (tm) symbols when you mention
>product names in the text.
>It seems the common wisdom is that you only need to use a copyright
>symbol the first time you mention a product in your document.
>However, our company's lawyers have informed us that we have to
>include them for every occurance in the document. This applies even
>to the name of the product I'm documenting. The result, aside from
>being a hassle, is not very pleasing aesthetically and just looks
>*wrong*.
>Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.
>Thanks in advance!
Don't know about Canadian law, but in the States you only need to let the
user know in some way that you're claiming copyright, and even THAT'S not
essential, because you own the copyright from inception.
In the States, you need to let the public know if you're trademarking
something, but your lawyers are being ultra-conservative by making you put a
notice at every occurrence of the trademarked item. That's overkill around
here. If you're worried about rogue pages, then just put a notice at the top
or bottom of each page, not each time you use the term or graphic.
You're confusing copyright with trademark, however. You don't need to use a
copyright notice for a product at all. That's trademark. The copyright
applies only to the document itself. The trademark notification protects the
name of your product, or somebody else's product. But there's no US law that
makes you put a trademark symbol next to ANYBODY'S trademark, including your
own, in the body of the document.
Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
FrameMaker support ForeHelp support
Makers of DuoFrame, giving you online help and paper
documentation from a single parent FrameMaker document.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Post Message: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Get Commands: LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU with "help" in body.
Unsubscribe: LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU with "signoff TECHWR-L"
Listowner: ejray -at- ionet -dot- net
