Hi, Sorry to burst your bubble but that is not true. It would
not hold up in a court of law. Many people will print "All Rigths
Resevered" until they receive their copyright number.
Not sure whose bubble you’re trying to burst but the fact of the
matter is that copyright, copyright ownership, and registration are
three different critters. Copyright (rights) in a work occurs the
instant the work is in a fixed form. You OWN the copyright in your
work the instant you’ve created it in a fixed form UNLESS it’s a work
made for hire (in which case the employer owns it) or you’ve
contractually obligated it to someone else in advance of creation (in
which case they own it). You can even LEGALLY mark a copyright NOTICE
on the work without asking anyone’s permission----in fact it is a
very good idea to. You can also REGISTER your copyright with the
government and that, in the US, entails a form and a $30 fee PLUS,
depending on the work, some deposit requirements. Registration gives
you more rights in court and better infringement recovery
opportunities but is NOT required for a copyright to be valid.
The phrase “All Rights Reserved” is NO LONGER NEEDED though many
still use it. It used to be a requirement for securing some copyright
rights OUTSIDE the US under international copyright agreements. The
phrase is NOT a “pre-copyright number” way of reserving rights.
This is indeed all explained at:
http://www.copyright.gov/ department. Copies from the
government are not considered copyright
Basically government created works have no copyright rights by law
so anyone can freely copy them. That, however, does NOT mean that if
something is available through the government that it never has any
copyright rights. Common sense and an examination of the work will
usually tell you which is which. (If there is no copyright notice
assume government provided material can be freely copied. If there is
a notice it gets more complicated and does not always preclude you
copying something.)
Here is what they consider Visual Art: Visual Arts Works
Yes, and some categories from that list, depending on the nature
(“fine, graphic, and applied art,” emphasis added vs “textual”)
of the item, may also be more appropriately registered using form TX
(or perhaps others) but for jewelry per se this not likely.
According to the Copyright department, a person needs to fill
out their application, submit it with a $30.00 fee, submit it
according to their specifications/category for copyrighted
materials, and once they receive it, it will be copyrighted.
The above, particularly the last line, is just plain hogwash. Read
the web site! The copyright, which ALREADY EXISTS, will simply be
REGISTERED!
If a person has many items to copyright, look to see if there is a
manual or book style that will allow even works of art, sculpture,
jewelry, other 3D art forms, so you can have it for one copyright
license for the same fee of $30.00
KNOW THE RULES and what you are doing. There are very specific laws
and rules regarding copyright registrations for “collections” and
“collection” registration may give you NO RIGHTS regarding individual
items within the collection. The basic rule is that you should
register each work that is an independent work, and for which you
want the benefits of registration, separately. Hoping to sneak
through many things on one fee may certainly get you a registration
and may even make your cease and desist letters pretty scary to
infringers but if it’s not what you need to win a court battle----and
you get into one----you’re sunk!
I think that if you have a great design, then it is important to
copyright it,
The “copyright” is AUTOMATIC. Obviously this person has confused
REGISTRATION with copyright.
the problem is who will be the watcher to oversee that no person or
entity is pirating your images?
I’ll second that. Owning a copyright only gives you certain rights
and it is entirely your responsibility to enforce those rights at
your own trouble and expense.
People, PLEASE, if you don’t KNOW you understand the material at the
copyright site DO NOT post anything trying to explain it to others!
(And if you THINK you know it bounce it past someone knowledgeable
BEFORE you post it. The Copyright Law, like any law, MUST be
understood in its entirety first, one cannot pick and choose
the phrases they want and disregard the rest.)
As usual, IANAL but I’ve studied this stuff for 10+ years.
James E. White
Inventor, Marketer, and Author of “Will It Sell?
How to Determine If Your Invention Is Profitably Marketable
(Before Wasting Money on a Patent)” www.willitsell.com
Also: www.booksforinventors.com and www.idearights.com