Re: [GD-General] Pro-IP bill passed the house: User-created conte nt providers, beware!

[Mike S. <mik...@gm...>]

On Sun, May 25, 2008 at 11:59 AM, Bob <ma...@mb...> wrote:
> Have you ever seen those big collections of "classic" films on DVD for a few
> dollars? Those are collections of movies that were distributed with the tiny
> oversight of lacking a copyright notice -- without that protection,
> regardless if the film was released just this year, scavengers can make
> cheap copies and reap a pure profit on the work while dramatically
> undercutting legitimate publishers.

In any country that is signatory to Berne Convention, mere authorship
is sufficient to establish the author's rights; explicit notification
can affect damages (or help prevent violation out of ignorance), but
isn't required for protection.

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html is worth reading.

Mike