Copyright Issues in Teaching with Technology

Copyright Notice
As one result of U.S. adoption of the Berne Convention, works published after March 1, 1989 are no longer required to include the familiar copyright notice in order to qualify for copyright protection. However, in a copyright infringement suit, the presence of a copyright notice prevents the defendant from pleading “innocent infringement,” or lack of awareness that commission of the infringing act was wrong (Carroll, 2002). Thus, leaving the copyright notice off a published work serves no particular advantage.

The standard format for a copyright notice is © [name of copyright owner] [year]. The word “Copyright” may be used in the United States instead of the symbol ©.

Prior to adoption of the Berne treaty, the U.S. was signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention of 1911, which required placement of “All Rights Reserved” on copyrighted documents to ensure protection in all signatory countries. All countries that signed the Buenos Aires treaty are now signatory to the Berne Convention, and this notice no longer serves any legal purpose.

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