EDIT Copyright Sign Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office copyright sign is one of the most widely spread characters throughout the world and is unanimously understood as a copyright note although most people do not know its exact legal meaning.

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EDIT Use of character The copyright sign is used in combination with the copyright holder\'s name and the year of first publication and is conspicuously displayed. It is spaced (Copyright © 2004 by name), omission of the words »Copyright« and »by« is optional (© 2004 name).

Under no circumstances should the outdated notation (c) be used - it dates back to the times when the proper copyright sign was not yet available on computers (leave alone typewriters). See also U+249E PARENTHESIZED LATIN SMALL LETTER C

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EDIT Brand law - meaning The copyright sign © U+00A9 COPYRIGHT SIGN signifies copyright protection, or protection against liability for copyright infringement, and implies an economic claim.

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