http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/smbuss/cpyright.txt This is the web sit for copyright law, and the forms to file can be printed out, self explanatory.. Best Regards, Charlene ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beverly Brown (by way of Genealogy Records Service ) wrote: > George is correct in that one doesn't have to "apply" for a copyright. I'm > quoting from my business law book: > > Works created after January 1, 1978 are automatically given statutory > copyright protection for the life of the author plus fifty years. <snip> A > copyright owner no longer needs to place a [c-circle--you know what I mean > but I don't know how to make the symbol] or R on the work to have the work > protected against infringement. > > Back to my words: > > Having said that, however, the benefit to REGISTERING the copyright, which > is what you do when you send $20, the form, and a copy of your work to the > Library of Congress, is that it makes it a heck of a lot easier to prove > that the work is truly yours. I can't find a reference in my book to back > me up on this, but I think I remember my professer saying if you had > registered your works and then you won a copyright infringement case in > court, you were entitled to greater damages than if your work were > unregistered, like you could maybe get punitive damages as well as real > damages. Since I can't find the reference that says that, I won't swear > that's true, but I can say without a doubt that if it came down to your > word against somebody else's about who wrote something, it would probably > be worth $20 to be able to prove without a doubt it was your work. > > And for what it's worth, you can't copyright ideas, only the particular way > in which an idea is expressed, nor can you copyright facts that are widely > known to the public, although compilations of facts (like your family > history) are copyrightable. > > Beverly > > George Morgan said: > >You do NOT need to "apply" for a copyright. Simply by adding the > >copyright sign, followed by the words, "Copyright 1998 [your name here] > >- ALl rights reserved" you have preserved your rights. Long past are > >the days of applying to the Patent Office for a copyright. > > > >Mark and Peggy Perry wrote: > >> At 10:42 AM 6/30/98 -0500, Ardis wrote: > >> >Does the copyright laws effect family history books? In other words, do > >> >I need to get permission to print information for my family history > >> >book? The books would be printed strictly for our family members and > >> >not for sale to the general public. Besides the birth, marriage, and > >> >death dates of family members, I'd like to include information and > >> >history of places our ancestors came from. > >> > > >> >Thanks for any help you can give me. > >> >Ardis > >> > > > ==== GenTips Mailing List ==== > If you need to unsubscribe to GenTips email the command: > unsubscribe > To: > GenTips-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com > DON'T send it to GenTips-L that won't work!