-=>After the Teddy Bears Picnic Lindsay McKeon said to Stewart Tanner<=-

Hi Lindsay, 

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

 ST> could anyone give me a quick outline of what is 
 ST> required to register a 
 ST> trademark and copyright?  Also a guess as to the costs involved.

 LM> I don't know about trademarks, but anything you write is copyright
 LM> the moment you produce it.  A cheap way to establish that is to
 LM> produce a hard copy (and disk as well if you want to) and mail it to
 LM> yourself by registered post.  Then keep the envelope unopened until
 LM> needed.
 
I found out about copyright being automatic in Australia after you write 
something.  Thank You.  Posting a copy to yourself, now there is an idea, 
wonder how you could prove it hadn't been posted unsealed or 
opened and resealed with anything as the contents?

 ST> PS. one more thing, are the disclaimers you see 
 ST> with shareware/software
 ST> worth while or are they a waste of time?
 LM> 
 LM> I don't know, but be careful that any disclaimer you write does
 LM> not attempt to take away rights enshrined in consumer leglislation.
 LM> This may constitute an offence ie. misleading behaviour.
 
Hmmm, yes that is a vey good point about misleading behaviour, i wondered why
many of the disclamers stated that the terms of the warranty/disclaimer may
be different in "your state".

 LM> More on copyright ... I've heard it suggested that a programmer 
 LM> assert their rights by a copyright screen message, plus place it in
 LM> several places in the program as data strings.  You may also place
 LM> it in a non-readable form (ROT 13 or some other simple code). This
 LM> won't increase your rights but may make proving theft easier.
 
Very good idea, i may just do that.

 LM> I think you'll have to talk to a lawyer. Some have a $10 for 10
 LM> minutes introductory offer.
 
If I had $10 spare I may do it but as it is I may just have to postpone 
releasing anything untill I can cover my myself.

Thanks again for your time Lindsay.

Cheers
Stewart

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