Blatant copying

[sr71plt]

This may be true on paper, however, in practice it is not true. Screen writers will print their script, seal it in an envelope, and mail it to themselves. They do not open the envelope, they just tuck it away for proof. The courts have accepted (in the past) the U.S. postmark as proof of when the copy was written by the person.

Nope, they won't do that in the United States with any protection whatsoever. The Poor Man's Copyright (which is what this is) has been specifically rejected by the U.S. courts (It says where the envelope been; not anything found inside the envelope). This is a legitimate way of establishing ownership in the UK (which doesn't have copyright. This is probably why this keeps cruising along as an urban legend in the United States). But anyone who tries to act on it in the United States is going to be a very, very disappointed camper.

Please cite any court case in the United States where a U.S. postmark has been accepted by a U.S. court as proof of anything but where the envelope has been--not the contents.

NOTHING GETS TO A U.S. COURT ON PROSE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT WITHOUT SOMEONE HOLDING A FORMAL COPYRIGHT.

I find it amusing that even when the law is cited as estragon has done above, people just won't believe it. And they will continue not to believe it, because they wouldn't try to go to court anyway. They are just bluffing (even if they don't realize it).

Try to get it through your skulls. The United States has a tradition of free access to information. It only gets into copyright protection when it's a case of some powerful U.S. forces being ripped off from abroad--it's two-faced that way. It was one of the very last countries to sign the Berne Convention providing the "it's protected as soon as it's written" "protection" and it has not passed any legislation giving teeth to the Berne Convention. So, you get doublespeak when you go to check on what protections you have.

The United States does not want copyright issues to burgeon in its already-overloaded courts, so it has not changed the law (cited by estragon) above that says you have to hold a formal copyright registration to get a court date in the United States.

Don't believe it if you don't want to, but you are only kidding yourself if you don't. You certainly aren't going to be able to do more than try to bluff.

 

[sr71plt]

References on the Poor Man’s Copyright:

The horse’s mouth (the U.S. Copyright Office. See paragraphs 5 and 7)

http://copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html


Songs:

http://www.songregistration.com/poor_mans_copyright-a.html?gclid=CLPzt8Ob36sCFY515QodE1O1jQ

 

[estragon]

As the old commercial used to say, "When you've said 'Budweiser', you've said it all." The webpage from the Copyright Office says it all.