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[Aahz]

In article <3d868ccc$1 at news.sentex.net>,
Peter Hansen  <peter at engcorp.com> wrote:
>
>Copyright is actually a passive thing now, as opposed to active.
>That is, you don't have "to copyright your work", because unless
>you explicitly disclaim the copyright, you automatically get it.

True.

>As I recall, this was not always the case in at least the U.S., but
>has been the case for a number of years now.  In other words, if you
>don't write something like "placed in the public domain" then you still
>have copyright on it and could take steps in courts of law to recover
>lost income if someone else attempts to profit from your work without
>permission.
>
>There *are* steps you can take that are considered by some to increase
>the strength of the copyright (registering it officially and so forth),
>but others believe this is mostly a waste of time.

False (mostly).  It's not the strength of the copyright, it's the amount
of money that one can gain from a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Registering copyright permits punitive damages; unregistered copyright
permits only "actual" damages, and you have to prove every penny of it.
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

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