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Having a copyright notice on your work is incredibly important. Not only does a copyright notice protect you from plagiarism, but it also ensures that the public understands that you own the work. While a copyright notice is not mandatory, think of it as an additional layer of protection. You can add copyright notices in various places, including websites and mobile apps, and we’ll provide some examples to help you craft your own copyright notice. However, it is not a bad idea to go through copyright law 101 to cover your bases.
Copyright Notice Examples for a Website Page
You can add a copyright notice to your website page to establish copyright ownership for website visitors coming to your site. This protects your website content against copyright infringement. We’ll look at some of the best examples of copyright notices on website pages.
1. Twitter
Social media platform Twitter only includes the year and the copyright symbol as their copyright notice.
2. Zappos
Zappos is a popular e-commerce retailer that sells many different brands. Their copyright notice includes the full company name as well as the date range of years to show that they continually update their copyright notice for the parent company and affiliate companies.
3. Spotify
Spotify is a music streaming service with headquarters in Sweden, but operating all over the world. Their copyright notice simply includes the company name and the copyright symbol.
All Rights Reserved Copyright Statement Examples
Including all rights reserved in a copyright statement isn’t a requirement, but it can serve as extra protection. All rights reserved are included on copyright notices to ensure that no one uses the intellectual property without permission.
4. Apple
Tech giant Apple has a simple copyright notice on their website, including the most recent year of their copyright and the term ‘all rights reserved.’
5. eBay
Online auction site eBay combines different elements for their copyright notice. It includes the copyright owner’s name, first publication, subsequent years, and all rights reserved.
6. McDonald’s
Arguably one of the biggest fast-food chains in the world, McDonald’s also includes the term all rights reserved on their copyright notice.
Website Copyright Footer Examples
Most websites display their copyright as a footer at the bottom. It ensures that you have communicated your full ownership of the copyright and allows you to display your copyright notice without compromising the user experience or design of the website.
7. Birchbox
Birchbox is an online retailer that creates beauty and skincare subscription boxes for its customers. For their copyright notice, they’ve included it in between other parts of the site navigation and social media icons to ensure users see its placement.
8. Nike
Sports and fitness retailer Nike has their copyright notice isolated on its own in their footer, with other website policies and legal information on the other side so that the footer doesn’t look too crowded.
9. Costco
Costco is a wholesale retailer for a variety of goods, and they have a more comprehensive copyright notice as their website footer. It includes the company name, copyright date, all rights reserved, and also includes other website legal documents for users to access.
Mobile App Copyright Notice Examples
To ensure legal protection for your mobile app, you can add a copyright notice in your app as well. This can help protect mobiles apps against a copyright infringer by providing copyright protection. Here are some sample copyright notices for mobile apps to use.
10. Zoom
Zoom is an online video conferencing computer software also available on mobile. It includes a copyright notice in its settings in the mobile app.
11. Whatsapp
Whatsapp is a popular instant messaging app available on the Apple app store and Android. They include their copyright information in the app listing and the app itself.
Sidebar Sample Copyright Notice
For blog posts and other types of creative expression, you can include a copyright notice on the website’s sidebar to make it more apparent and noticeable. It’s especially useful for websites with a continuous scroll to make sure the notice is always visible.
12. Youtube
Youtube includes their copyright notice on their sidebar, at the very bottom in the footer. In addition, links to other sections of the website and legal documents relating to the website and company are also included in the section to make it easily accessible.
What is Copyright?
In this digital age, having a copyright notice is important. A copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects others from copying your work or reproducing it in any way. If you have original and copyrightable work published and available to the public, copyright laws offer protection in case someone tries to steal your work.
Why You Should Have Copyright
While a copyright is not mandatory, it provides some benefits to the owners if someone tries to steal or duplicate your work. Here’s why you should have copyright:
- Establishes ownership: Having a copyright notice establishes that you own the work and that you have the exclusive rights to use the work as you see fit.
- Opens up business opportunities: You can license it out as needed if you own exclusive copyright to the content. Businesses are more likely to use your material if they know it cannot be stolen or copied.
- Protects you against copycats: While having a copyright isn’t mandatory, it can be useful if disputes or issues arise with the work. A copyright notice will establish prima facie evidence in court, and it can help resolve legal issues.
- Foreign protection: Copyright notices not only protect your work in the US, but they can also extend to other countries where the United States has a copyright agreement in place.
Where Should I Display a Copyright Notice?
You can place a copyright notice wherever makes the most sense based on your work, but it is important that it must be visible. People must be able to see the copyright notice right away and understand that you are the copyright holder.
What should be included in a copyright statement?
There are a few components of a copyright statement that must be included for it to be considered valid. Here’s what you need to include in a copyright statement:
- The word ‘copyright’
- © – the copyright symbol
- Year of publication
- Who the copyright owner
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