# Time to update copyright notice **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 19, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-update-copyright-notice/50922 "2001-01-19T21:37:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-update-copyright-notice/50922/1 "2001-01-19T21:37:37Z")
Down at the bottom of the page it says “Contents of the Straight Dope Message Board and the Straight Dope Web site are copyright 1984-2000 by the Chicago Reader, Inc.” That should probably be updated to say “copyright 1984-2001”. The Straight Dope Homepage ( [http://www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com) ) has “Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Chicago Reader, Inc.” Seems strange they don’t include 1984-1995, especially since so many Straight Dope Classics date from that period. The first _Straight Dope_ book came out in 1984 but some of the columns must have been published in the pages of the _Chicago Reader_ and other periodicals in earlier years. And another thing: There is one column available online that dates from well before 1984 that isn’t in any of the books: [The first Straight Dope column 02-Feb-1973](http://www.straightdope.com/faq/firstcolumn.html), which I am quite sure is still copyrighted. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-update-copyright-notice/50922/2 "2001-01-20T02:23:11Z")
I suspect that the copyrights listed starting with 1996 are for the webpage, not for the Straight Dope as a whole. While much of the material is older than that and copyrighted elsewhere, the [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) website is only a few years old. ---
**Author:** ![Juggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/juggler/32/3194_2.png) [@Juggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juggler)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-update-copyright-notice/50922/3 "2001-01-20T14:33:12Z")
You don’t have to put a © on something to copyright it. It is automaticly copyrighted. The copyright mark is obsolete, sure it might scare some people from stealing work but it doesn’t have any legal meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-update-copyright-notice/50922/4 "2001-01-20T16:00:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Juggler \* > \*\*You don’t have to put a © on something to copyright it. It is automaticly copyrighted. The copyright mark is obsolete, sure it might scare some people from stealing work but it doesn’t have any legal meaning. \*\* It can help offer protection in Universal Copyright Convention nations which are not Berne Convention nations. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-update-copyright-notice/50922/5 "2001-01-21T00:49:26Z")
Interesting note: The © has absolutely no legal force anywhere. You have to have the complete circle around the C for it to mean anything.