[Foundation-l] Authoring on wikijunior : providing private information.

[Lars Aronsson]

Robert Scott Horning wrote:

> In addition, one of the reasons I asked for this information is 
> that I intend to do a formal copyright registration on 
> Wikijunior books when I send them into print format.

To avoid further confusion, it should be pointed out that this 
"copyright registration" is something that only exists in the 
United States.  Earlier (before 1978) the U.S. had a copyright 
law that required copyrights to be registered, much like patents 
work in other countries.  If you didn't register, anybody could 
claim copyright to your text.  The registration was not made at 
the patent office, but at the U.S. Copyright Office, which is a 
part of the Library of Congress, www.copyright.gov

After the 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Copyright_Act_of_1976 
went into effect on January 1, 1978, copyright is automatically 
granted to anybody who creates a work (text, music, software, 
etc.), just like it works in other countries.  This opened up a 
possibility of doubt about who owns the copyright to a work.  
Therefore, the copyright office and its registration is still 
available, as a safety measure, but this is a voluntary option.

The article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright
says "In the United States, copyright has relatively recently been 
made automatic".  The idea that copyright must be "obtained" is 
still very much part of the American way of thinking.  To many 
Europeans this concept is as foreign as slavery.

I am not a lawyer.


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se