Re: (C) vs ©

[Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho <antti-juhani@kaijanaho.fi>]

On Mon, May 21, 2007 at 12:14:31PM +0530, Shriramana Sharma wrote:
> it is incorrect to use (C) in place of the symbol © which is the strict 
> copyright symbol. Is this so? If yes, why?

IANAL etc.

The formal copyright notice is required in some (very few) countries for a
foreign work to get copyright protection; see the Universal Copyright
Convention.  The format is specified as follows:

 [...] if from the time of the first publication all the copies of the work
 published with the authority of the author or other copyright proprietor bear
 the symbol © accompanied by the name of the copyright proprietor and the year
 of first publication placed in such manner and location as to give reasonable
 notice of claim of copyright.

(from Article III of the Universal Copyright Convention as revised at Paris on
24 July 1971)

There is nothing in the Convention saying that (C) is an acceptable substitute
for ©, which is why it is prudent not to assume that it is :)

Most countries (including the USA and all of the EU) are party to the Berne
Convention, which specifies that any work that is copyrightable is
automatically copyrighted until the protection expires.  However, in some
countries copyright notices or other formalities such as registration entitles
the copyright proprietor to an "enhanced" version of copyright beyond the basic
Berne Convention copyright: for example, in the USA, it increases the amount of
damages one can successfully claim in a copyright trial.  Copyright notice can
also serve as evidence of authorship if disputed.

> Further, whether (C) or ©, isn't it superfluous to use it after the word 
> "copyright" which itself means the same thing?

Yes.