Identification

A copyright notice should contain the symbol "©", the word "copyright" or the abbreviated form "copr.", according to the United States Copyright and Patent Office. In addition, the owner's name and first year of production should accompany a copyright notice, for example, © 1996 Jane Doe.

Features

The copyright notice should appear somewhere conspicuous on the work, according to the U.S. Patent Office.

Exceptions

Copyrighted musical works do not use the ©, but have a p instead because they are not visual copies of a work. The law considers software as a "visual" work and uses the © symbol, reports Daniel Tysver of BitLaw.

Effects

As of 2009, works created after March 1, 1989 do not need to include a notice of copyright to obtain full copyright rights, according to BitLaw. Works created before March 1, 1989 without a copyright notice do not have copyright protection.

Function

Although no longer needed, a copyright notice does help prevent people from accidentally using the copyrighted work without permission, and allows people to contact the originator of the work in case they wish to purchase its rights, according to BitLaw.

Source:

United States Copyright and Patent Office; Copyright Law: Chapter 4

BitLaw.com: Copyright Notice and Registration