HOW AND WHERE TO PLACE THE COPYRIGHT SYMBOL
AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE ON YOUR WORK

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The Copyright Symbol

The copyright symbol -- © -- is what you need to place on your work.

You don't need to wait until you've filed your copyright application before you place the copyright symbol on your work. Click&Copyright has prepared several different graphics which our customers are free to use to quickly and easily provide notice that their work is registered with the United States Federal Government and 100% protected under U.S. Copyright Law.

The Copyright Notice

The copyright notice should always be placed on your work in a conspicuous and obvious spot. The copyright notice, (which includes the copyright symbol) should look like this:

Copyright © 2006 COPYRIGHT OWNER’S NAME. All Rights Reserved.

Like in the above example, the word “copyright” and the copyright symbol should constitute the first party of your copyright notice.

In place of 2006, next to the copyright symbol, in the sample copyright notice above, you should insert the year in which your work was created (e.g. -- if you are copyrighting a collection of short stories, make the date, the year that the last piece in the collection was created).

In place of COPYRIGHT OWNER’S NAME in the sample copyright notice above, you should insert the name or names of the copyright holder(s) (those claiming ownership of the copyright, not necessarily the authors. Can be individuals or business entities).

Do I Even Need to Place The Copyright Notice on My Work?

If your work was created after March 1, 1989, the copyright notice isn’t required, BUT placing the copyright notice prominently on your work is a smart move.

The presence of the copyright notice warns anyone who sees it that you are claiming ownership in the material. This may deter potential infringers.

By placing the copyright notice on your work, you eliminate the “innocent infringer” defense commonly used by those committing copyright infringement. With the copyright notice on the work, the “innocent infringer” can’t argue that she/he had no idea that the work was copyrighted. This alone is a great reason to have the copyright notice on your work.

COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK RIGHT NOW!