Re: A83: Ultimatum for Hays...

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Re: A83: Ultimatum for Hays...


At 08:52 AM 1/6/01 -0800, you wrote:
>I would be very interested in learning where you learned what you know
>about US copyright laws.  I had always thought that I could trust any
>basic facts I read on the web site of the US Copyright office
>(http://www.loc.gov/copyright/), although you seem to know better.
>Anyway, here are some of the claims about copyright from the Copyright
>Office:
>
>First, they seem to think that "The use of the copyright notice is the
>responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance
>permission from, or registration with, the Copyright Office." (in the
>document entitled 'Copyright Basics') and they even repeat this claim
>(with slightly different wording) in their FAQ! (in the answer to question
>53).

Yes, it is true that there is an implied copyright on your programs.
However, the copyright office at lcweb.loc.gov is the place where I get my
information as well.  The problem is that the wording in the FAQ is
horrible since it never states that you may not use the (C) symbol in your
programs and/or documentation.  What is not stated is not implied.  I'm
guilty of violating this as well in some of my own programs (shortly after
reading the same FAQ).

The official source of my claim that you are not allowed to use the (C)
symbol in your programs/documentation is found in section 506 (Criminal
offenses) part c.  Which states:

  (c) FRAUDULENT COPYRIGHT NOTICE. — Any person who, with fraudulent
intent, places on any article a notice of copyright or words of the same
purport that such person knows to be false, or who, with fraudulent intent,
publicly distributes or imports for public distribution any article bearing
such notice or words that such person knows to be false, shall be fined not
more than $2,500.

This means that putting (C), Copyright, or any implication of a registered
copyright is illegal.  The copyright may be implied but not stated (pretty
picky if you ask me, but that's how the law works).  Now, I'm suspecting
that the fine mentioned above could be put forth for a single distribution
of a single 'article' (program or documentation).  So, if Hays duplicates a
game and puts an explicit copyright symbol in it, and say a thousand people
download and use the game just once, you could have them fined for up to
$2,500,000 (you wouldn't get any of the money, but you would put them in
debt for the rest of their sorry lives).  If you sued them, you would first
request that they be fined for violation of section 506 part c on an
individual distribution basis and then you would sue for copyright
infringement.

>Also, despite the fact that they discuss the benefits and reasons of
>copyright registration quite a bit, they never mention anything about
>mailing a copy of your work to yourself (though they do tell you how to
>mail it to them to register it).

By mailing a copy to yourself on a CD, you guarantee that the code was
written on or before the date it was processed through the mail system.
How?  The postmark always carries the date and possibly the time that the
mail came through the mail system.  The post office is a federally run
system and thus will seal the fate of Hays in court because the court
recognizes the post office as a valid federal branch of the government.
Hays could not possibly change a postmark to a date before yours.  Thus,
you will have the earlier date and a winning case in the court room.  Make
sure the court re-seals the evidence for potential future cases.

I hope that helps.


           Thomas J. Hruska -- shinelight@crosswinds.net
Shining Light Productions -- "Meeting the needs of fellow programmers"
                  http://www.shininglightpro.com/
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