One of the easiest DIY ways to add some protection to your creative work is to include a copyright notice. It doesn’t require a lawyer, it doesn’t cost anything, and it takes almost zero effort, while providing several benefits — including just letting people know that you value your work and don’t want them using it for free. The history of copyright notices can be confusing and colorful (zombies! see below), but adding a copyright notice today is drop-dead simple for most works.
WHY SHOULD YOU INCLUDE A NOTICE?
There are many reasons why you should use copyright notices, but to be clear, you don’t have to use them. At least, not anymore. In ancient times (meaning, before 1989), failure to include a copyright notice in the correct form was potentially fatal to copyright protection. As a notable example, in 1968, the distributor for the horror film Night of the Living Dead forgot to include the copyright notice on the film when it changed the graphics for the title (it was originally called Night of the Flesh Eaters). Under copyright law at that time, the lack of a proper notice caused the film to immediately enter the public domain. This perversely increased its popularity, because television stations and theaters could use the film for free (and did so with gusto) — arguably leading to the overall popularity of zombie films today.
For any works created after March 1, 1989, however, a copyright notice is no longer required to maintain copyright protection. That said, there are several advantages (both legal and financial) to including a copyright notice whenever possible:
A notice lets potential users know that the work is protected and that they need to obtain permission before using it. This helps prevent infringement if potential users either mistakenly thought the work was free to use, or simply didn’t think about whether it was protected.
A notice lets potential users know whether the copyright is still in effect, in case they mistakenly thought the work was old enough to be in the public domain.
If you ever need to enforce your copyright in court, a notice prevents infringers from trying to limit their liability based on an “innocent infringer” defense.
Because a notice lists the copyright owner, it is another way of letting potential users know who to contact if they would like to pay for a license ($).
WHAT DOES THE NOTICE HAVE TO SAY?
Here’s the simple part — to be effective, a copyright notice only needs to include three things:
The copyright symbol © (or for sound recordings, ℗); the word “copyright”, or the abbreviation “copy.”
The year of first publication of the work; and
The name of the copyright owner.
So, for example, the copyright notice for my blog looks like this:
© 2020 by Mauck Law.
Pretty easy, right? Now for the details:
The year can be written out in Arabic or Roman numerals, though using Roman numerals is pretty rare outside of the film industry. If the work was published over multiple years (like the contents of a blog or a website that is expanded over time), you can use a date range, e.g. © 2019-2020 by Mauck Law.
If a work is unpublished, you can still include a copyright notice, and would just use the year that the work was created (Unpublished Masterpiece © 2020 by Ryan Mauck).
It is important that the name listed is the owner of the copyright, which in most cases is also the same person listed in the copyright registration (you are doing a copyright registration, right?). By default, this is the author of the work, but it may be someone else if the piece is either a work for hire, or if the new owner acquired 100% of all of the rights in the work exclusively. This last bit can be tricky - if someone just acquires part of the copyright (like the right to distribute the work, but not to create derivative works), or if they license the work on a non-exclusive basis, they shouldn’t be listed.
If you’d like, you can also include additional information after the notice, such as the ubiquitous “All Rights Reserved,” but such a statement isn’t legally required (by default, all rights are already reserved).
WHERE DO YOU PUT THE NOTICE?
Where to place the copyright notice is worth thinking about, particularly if you are trying to avoid distracting from or damaging the work’s visual aesthetic. It may be tempting to “hide” the notice in a place that isn’t normally seen, but this actually defeats the entire purpose of the notice.
As a general matter, the Copyright Office says that the notice needs to be placed “in such a manner and in a location that provides reasonable notice to the public of the claim to copyright. In all cases, the acceptability of a notice depends upon its being permanently legible to an ordinary user of the work and affixed to the copies in such manner and position that it is not concealed from view upon reasonable examination.”
In other words, the notice needs to be reasonably visible, and needs to be permanent. Concealing the notice by, for example, using a microscopic font size, placing the notice beneath the area covered by a permanent mat and frame, or placing the notice on the bottom of a figurine that’s glued to a base would render the notice defective.
The Copyright Office also provides guidelines on where to place the notice for different types of works. Some examples:
Books - copyright notices can be placed in many locations in a book, including the title page, the front or back covers, or the first or last pages of the main body (the guidelines linked to above list more options if you’re curious). However, you cannot just include the notice on a dust jacket, because those can be easily removed from the book (remember, the notice needs to be permanent).
Films - the notice should be embedded in the film (visually, like the title or the credits) either with or near the film’s title, in the credits, or at the beginning or end of the film. If you’re posting your work on the internet such as via YouTube or Instagram, I’d also suggest that you include your notice in the comments or text description.
Paintings, Photographs, Sculptures - either place the notice directly in/on the piece or permanently attach a label that includes the notice. The notice can be on the front or back (as long as it’s easily accessible to the ordinary viewer), and it can be on the work itself or on a permanent mount, frame or base, if there is one.
Computer Software - in today’s world, it’s becoming rare for software to come in any physical container that could be labeled with a notice. So software needs to display the notice when the program itself runs. This can be done in a couple of different ways, such as in a splash screen at startup, or in the About menu. If the software does come in a physical box and/or on disks, those should contain notices as well (and creative labels or packaging may be themselves protected under copyright law, anyway).
Blogs, websites - the best place to include a copyright notice is in your site’s footer, so that it appears on every page. Just don’t forget to update your date range each year.
Finally, a note on watermarks for photographs or videos posted online. Watermarks can include a copyright notice, but aren’t themselves a notice unless they contain the three items listed above. And, even if they do include the three components, they still need to be visible and legible.