# Copyright Dates **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228 "2003-10-02T23:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brainchild876](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@brainchild876](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainchild876)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/1 "2003-10-02T23:45:46Z")
I"m trying to figured out how old the battery in my car is. It doens’t have the normal scratch off calendar that lots of batteries do to tell when it was bought. I tried to find places to look up the serial number on it and found nothing. The only kind of date on it is the copyright date which says “Copyright AC Delco 1997”. Is it safe to assume that the battery was made in 1997? Or does the date mean something else? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/2 "2003-10-02T23:57:10Z")
Offhand, I’d say the battery was probably made _no earlier_ than 1997, but it might have been made after that. That is, the 1997 label may have been applied to later batteries. But IANABM (battery maker). ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/3 "2003-10-03T01:56:36Z")
Almost all auto batteries have a date code stamped or otherwise permantently attached to ascertain guarantee date expiration. Number/letter code for mo. and yr. stamped in/on lead terminal or a decal with holes punced out affixed sp as to tear if atempt is made to remove it an place on an older battery. Look real carefully unless it was an el cheapo and no guarantee. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/4 "2003-10-03T01:58:59Z")
Copyright date is the date a logo, brand name etc. was first used and/or registered with US givinmnt.’ ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/5 "2003-10-03T02:41:35Z")
The copyright belongs to the label design, not to the battery. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/6 "2003-10-03T03:41:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spingears \* > \*\*Copyright date is the date a logo, brand name etc. was first used and/or registered with US givinmnt.’ \*\* No, the copyright date is, as **Walloon** says, when the label was written/designed. As such it can convey, as I said, the upper limit of the battery’s age, since it is unlikely that a battery would be older than the label it bears. You have, like many people, confused copyright with trademark. Trademarks do not display dates. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/7 "2003-10-03T07:33:26Z")
To put it concisely: The structure of the battery is **patented**. The design of the label is **copyrighted**. The brand name is a **trademark**. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/8 "2003-10-03T14:13:23Z")
Depending on the label, it could be both copyrighted and trademarked. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/9 "2003-10-03T14:34:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cliffy \* > \*\*Depending on the label, it could be both copyrighted and trademarked. > \*\* The label probably does include the trademark of the manufacturer, but a) that’s not the date the OP was referring to, since trademarks, unlike copyrights, don’t have to appear with their registration date, and 2) one wouldn’t say the label is trademarked, only that it has the trademark on it. The mark (e.g. “DieHard”) is trademarked. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/10 "2003-10-03T15:29:30Z")
Agreed. My post was imprecise. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-dates/205228/11 "2003-10-03T15:51:37Z")
Note that the copyright date is not necessarily the registration date. The date may just indicate when the work was fixed.