Re: Copyright notices.

[Malcolm Tredinnick <malcolm commsecure com au>]

On Thu, Nov 14, 2002 at 10:53:38AM +0000, Pat Costello wrote:
> There was a string on the developers mailing list that related to the proper use 
> of copyright notices. See attached. 
> 
> I had a look at GNOME Help manuals and I noticed that we are using the following 
> format: 
> 
> "Copyright" <copyright symbol> [copyright date] [copyright owner]
> 
> According to my researches, the format should be one of the following: 
> 
> Where Space is Not a Problem: 
> =============================
> 
> "Copyright" [copyright date] [copyright owner]
> 
> or
> 
> Where Space is Limited: 
> =======================
> 
> <copyright symbol> [copyright date] [copyright owner]
> 
> Therefore, what we are using right now is overkill. I suggest we change the 
> format to the first one above, namely the space-is-not-a-problem format. This 
> looks like a style sheet change. 

Can you clarify what your research applies to here?

Because from work I have done previously, it is trickier than this.

The "C in a circle" mark is required for countries that subscribe to the
Universal Copyright Convention (UCC), but it is not required under the
Berne convention. Under the Berne Convention and the World Trade
Organisation Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS), the signatory countries are required to extend the same
privileges to other countries a they do their own citizens.

This means, for example, since Australia does not require a strict form
of copyright notice (any notice clearly stating the intent that the
document is copyrighted by a certain group or individual is sufficient),
I can put such a notice on and I am protected internationally under the
Berne and TRIPS agreements. However, I need to put "C in a circle" to be
valid in a country that is a signatory to the UCC, but not Berne or
TRIPS. Following the US law here, for example, is insufficient for me,
since I am not a "national, citizen or resident of that country" (the
phrasing used by the Berne convention).

I do not know which countries GNOME is used in that are UCC, but not
Berne convention signatories and not members of the WTO, but I guess
there must be some.


> ----------------Attachment from desktop-devel-list gnome org-----------------
> On 14 Nov 2002 Pat opined: 
> 
> The view from the documentation perspective...
> 
> Thanks for bringing up this point. I did a bit of research and here are my 
> findings: 
> 
> - A discrete piece of software or documentation should always contain a proper 
> copyright notice. A statement of the bleating obvious you say, well, the key 
> word here is "proper". 
> 
> - A proper copyright notice consists of the following: 
> 
> 	o 	The word "Copyright" or, if there is a shortage of space, the 		
> 		copyright symbol, which is a C in a closed circle. 
> 
> 		NOTE: (c) has no legal weight. Never use (c). 
> 	
> 	o 	The year of first publication of the work, usually the year of 
> 		FCS.
> 		
> 	o 	The owner of the copyright. 

Again, I dispute the strict correctness of this in all countries, given
the various conventions and treaties cited above, but I think people are
required to satisfy the laws of their own country to be provided with
protection under those agreements.

I am in no way a lawyer, but I did spend quite a bit of time looking at
this a couple of years ago, from the viewpoint of what was required from
me as an Australian and how that affected my international rights and
privileges. The Australian Attorney General's Department has quite a
number of available publications on this and they were my main
reference.

This is not helping reach a resolution on this, but I would prefer we
hold off, rather than make a wrong decision.

Malcolm

-- 
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.