# © ® ™ **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2001, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/79930 "2001-09-05T21:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spyderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@Spyderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spyderman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/1 "2001-09-05T21:23:03Z")
© = Registered Trademark ™ = Trademark © = Copywrite _What_ **exactly** is the difference? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/2 "2001-09-05T21:28:50Z")
Not all trademarks are registered. You can get common law trademark status without registration by just using the mark all the time and then suing the hell out of anyone who tries to infringe upon. Also some people can’t or don’t want to type the R in a circle. And it’s copyright, not copywrite. It gives the owner the right to make copies. If it’s a sound recording, it’s a P inside a circle. I am one of the people too lazy to figure out the code to type the symbols. ---
**Author:** ![Spyderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@Spyderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spyderman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/3 "2001-09-05T21:31:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spyderman \* > \*\*© = Registered Trademark > > ™ = Trademark > > © = Copywrite > > _What_ **exactly** is the difference? \*\* OF course I meant ® = Registered Trademark. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/4 "2001-09-05T21:39:40Z")
**BobT** is correct. Copyright and Trademark can be self-applied, but the “circle-R” means that the trademark has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office after an exhaustive search of existing marks, making defense of the trademark much easier. I believe that there may be a registration process for copyright as well, but it’s not in my area so I’ll withhold comment. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/5 "2001-09-05T21:42:09Z")
You can indeed register your copyright. All you have to do is fill out a form and send a copy of whatever it is you want registered to Copyright Office in Washington and you have yourself a registered copyright. Registration gives you certain legal advantages if push comes to shove, in particular, you can claim punitive damages if someone infringes. If you don’t register, you just get actual damages, which usually don’t amount to much. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/6 "2001-09-06T01:26:13Z")
An earlier thread on this subject: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=9529](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=9529) ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/7 "2001-09-06T01:59:58Z")
For those scoring at home… The key combos (you **must** type the zero & you **must** use the numeric keypad): ALT+0169 = © ALT+0174 = ® ALT+0153 = ™ ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Stewart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dave\_Stewart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Stewart)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/8 "2001-09-06T03:51:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*You can indeed register your copyright. All you have to do is fill out a form and send a copy of whatever it is you want registered to Copyright Office in Washington and you have yourself a registered copyright. > > Registration gives you certain legal advantages if push comes to shove, in particular, you can claim punitive damages if someone infringes. If you don’t register, you just get actual damages, which usually don’t amount to much. \*\* Only in the US - and its not compulsory, and in Taiwan, which I understand is phasing it out. Maybe there are some other countries, but I’ve never heard of them. Most places in the world you can’t actually register copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/9 "2001-09-06T08:10:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > \*\* > ALT+0174 = ® > ALT+0153 = ™ \*\* You should be aware that these are not universal standards. I’m seeing those two characters as the AE ligature and o with a circumflex accent over it. But then, I left my browser in Japanese mode. These characters aren’t universal in every browser localization, and you really shouldn’t use them as alt codes, use the official HTML versions. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/10 "2001-09-06T12:32:09Z")
The U.S. is one of the few countries that has registration of copyright. However, you don’t need to be registered to have some (limited) copyright protection. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/11 "2001-09-06T13:00:21Z")
**Chas.E** , FYI HTML can’t be used in SDMB any more. Isn’t it about time we all enabled Unicode? Working a lot with foreign languages, I am damned sick and tired of carefully coding special characters and having them turn into garbage because somebody else’s system interprets them differently. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t//79930/12 "2001-09-06T18:49:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\ ***Chas.E** , FYI HTML can’t be used in SDMB any more. > \*\* I know, I meant generally speaking, you should use the proper codes wherever possible.