USA ONLY So I was learning about copyright and I came across a fact that no one seems to believe me until I show them the website. So I'm sure I can get some confirmation from the experts here, as well as inform some people about it. From: http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/comm106/106copy.html#securecopyright In a nutshell, once you have the material in tangible form, it is automatically copyrighted. So no matter what you take or if it doesn't say "Copyright 2006 Some Company" it does not matter. It is copyrighted and it is illegal. So I just figured I would share that with those who didn't know.
As a (former) copyright atty - yes, you own the copyright as soon as it's created, you don't have to mail it to yourself or anything... BUT. If you want to PROSECUTE someone for infringement, the court will ask, "Have you registered your copyright?" If you register your copyright, you will be assumed automatically to have ownership to the copyrighted material. The burden then passes to the infringer to show that they have rights to the product, not you. Without filing, the burden remains on you to prove it's yours. That's the "advantage" they mention. It's fairly cheap ($45) to register, there is no reason not to if you're concerned about protection. go to copyright.gov. Recomended for ebooks, software code, etc.
Yeap, I knew that too. I just got tired of people saying, "IT HAS NO COPYRIGHT THING AT THE BOTTOM LETS TAKE IT" and they assume its ok. When it is not. Thank you.