05-19-2003, 10:06 PM
from copyright.gov FAQ:
Short version: no matter if anyone formally copyrighted the logo, from the moment they started printing stickers, they had the rights to the design, and millions of people saw it on the streets, in Crazy Taxi, high above Times Square, etc... so SOMEONE is in a position to either have made a deal with Pinnacle or to sue them.
Short version: no matter if anyone formally copyrighted the logo, from the moment they started printing stickers, they had the rights to the design, and millions of people saw it on the streets, in Crazy Taxi, high above Times Square, etc... so SOMEONE is in a position to either have made a deal with Pinnacle or to sue them.
Quote:HOW TO SECURE A COPYRIGHT
Copyright Secured Automatically upon Creation
The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. (See following Note.) There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. See \"Copyright Registration.\"
Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is \"created\" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. \"Copies\" are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. \"Phonorecords\" are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the \"work\") can be fixed in sheet music (\" copies\") or in phonograph disks (\" phonorecords\"), or both.
If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.