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Copyright is automatic. You don't need a notice, you own the copyright as soon as it's fixed into a tangible medium – basically when you hit save. It can confer some advantages in some countries if you sue somebody for copyright infringement. Are you planning on doing that rather than simply forcing a takedown if somebody copies your website? No? Then don't bother.

Being realistic, you see copyright notices on websites because people see them elsewhere and assume they are necessary and add them to their own sites without thought. Then other people see those notices and assume the same thing. It's a vicious circle. Lots of people copying others who don't know what they are doing.

It's why every year on New Year's Day you get a bunch of people going "It's 20xx, update your footers!" and more people saying you should just automatically show the current year. The copyright notice isn't there to tell you what the current year is – everybody knows what the current year is – it's there to tell you what year the work was first published.





Also, I assume, it’s custom - like starting a letter with “Dear Abby, ...”

Even knowing it’s not a legal requirement, I can’t imagine leaving it out. It’s like creating a painting and not signing it.


What countries and laws/judicial systems are you referring to? I don't think it's the same in all ~200 countries around the world.


178 countries are parties to the Berne Convention, which requires automatic copyright.


Copyright is automatic in all countries that have ratified the Berne Convention. Countries that have ratified TRIPS (which is a requirement for membership in the WTO) also follow the Berne Convention rules. There's a handful of countries that aren't members of the WTO that don't follow these rules. I would assume that enforcing copyright in these countries might prove problematic with or without a copyright notice.


How much of Berne is included TRIPS is interesting and rather telling. Yes, automatic copyright is included. Where it gets interesting is when you review how they made sure there are no loopholes towards intellectual property rights while explicitly excluding moral rights...


it's also now customarily a means to anchor a page, in the footer, to signal the end. it's comforting in a way.


Copyright: %publish_year% - %current_year%




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