Re: What qualifies as copyrighted material?

This is far from a legal answer, but the last time I looked into copyrighting material, the answer I found was that the material is copyrighted if you declare it as such. Usually it's your name, the date and that little c in a circle. But it can be anything which clearly states your name, the date, and that you declare a copyright on it.

Of course, you cannot copyright something previously copyrighted by someone else, etc. etc. And as usual in the litigation-prone society, enforcement of copyright is the problem, especially when you can't collect much damages from anonymous or dirt-poor violators.

I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. Cogito ergo sum a bum

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Re^2: What qualifies as copyrighted material? by chromatic (Archbishop) on Jul 30, 2006 at 16:45 UTC
This is far from a legal answer, but the last time I looked into copyrighting material, the answer I found was that the material is copyrighted if you declare it as such. You have a copyright whenever you create something copyrightable. It's merely much easier to enforce if you put a copyright notice on it before you distribute it. See 10 Big Myths about copyright explained and the U. S. Copyright Office FAQ.	[reply]

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Re^2: What qualifies as copyrighted material?
by chromatic (Archbishop) on Jul 30, 2006 at 16:45 UTC

This is far from a legal answer, but the last time I looked into copyrighting material, the answer I found was that the material is copyrighted if you declare it as such.

You have a copyright whenever you create something copyrightable. It's merely much easier to enforce if you put a copyright notice on it before you distribute it.

See 10 Big Myths about copyright explained and the U. S. Copyright Office FAQ.

[reply]