I am sure others will answer this too. Copyright is secured "from the
moment of creation" of a copyrightable work. While the "c" seems to be
mostly meaningless now, the actual REGISTRATION of copyright is helpful in
securing damage awards, especially punative damages. Certain work may be
deemed "for hire" in which the PERSON creating the work may NOT be the
copyright holder, but even here the work is covered by the laws from the
moment it is created. Even the act of writing this note grants copyright
protection. There have been successful prosecutions in cases where an
e-mail was posted in one forum and then appeared in another forum without
the author's permission.

There are loads of nuances and it seems a lot of grey areas too and how
TRADITION deals with things is not always how the LEGAL system deals with
them.

Richard Finkelstein
Boulder Colorado

On Wed, 4 Feb 1998, James E. May wrote:

> I know this debate can go on and on but does the artist truly own copyright?
> Don't you have to formally apply for copyrights and isn't there a difference
> between copyright and paternity?  Putting the (c) next to your name does not
> necessarily give you legal claim to the image.
>