Chris mentioned that her students add “all rights reserved” to their copyright notices. Is that necessary,  or redundant?

Well, both.

Any time you create a work, it is automatically protected under copyright law.  Here’s a relevant paragraph:

“Under U. S. law, copyright protection subsists from the time the work is fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which it can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Copyright registration is not mandatory, but it has important benefits.” (Here’s a link to great information about copyright from the US Copyright Office.)

Because your work is copyrighted when it’s created, you don’t absolutely have to even post the copyright notice.

The main reason, in my opinion, to put the © and a date is to remind people that this is copyrighted material.  You don’t need to add “All rights reserved” UNLESS it concerns valuable content that someone might want to copy to, say, create an information product with YOUR material.  So if you’re a copywriter like Chris’s students, it looks like of strange to add that to your own website, or to sales copy.

However, on a blog, say if you’re giving away content to show that you know what you’re talking about, it makes sense to add “All rights reserved” with the copyright notice. See www.rayedwards.com for an example. In fact, in such cases, it’s a slight hint that the info there IS valuable.

So–for straight sales copy, no. For valuable content, yes. And nowadays, I think content IS what sells, so the lines can blur.

For information products,  such as Special Reports and ebooks, minicourses like my Author Success Plan, etc.,  you definitely want to include “all rights reserved.” It’s not legally necessary, but it’s a reminder to other people that this is in fact copyrighted material and they do not have a right to copy it or distribute it.

I clearly spell out in the front pages my Author Success Plan, etc. what people can and cannot do with my material–whether they can pass it on or not, that they may not reproduce it, sell it, etc.

Many people seem to think that if something in on the Internet, it’s automatically free content that they can copy and redistribute at will. This is not the case, and posting copyright symbol, date, and “all rights reserved” is a reminder to readers that this is YOUR content.

To me, the more often more of us remind people of that, the better.

If you’re not sure what Web 2.0 even is, and why it’s the best thing that’s happened to authors since the printing press, and why it’s THE reason I say, “This is the best time to be an author” …

… read the article!

(I would post it here but … honestly, I like my XSite Pro site, where I post my PCW articles, better. Much easier to work with, search engine optimize, and all the works. If you want to create sites easily, check out the Xsite Pro web design software.)

Okay, enough digression. Read the article, okay? And if it sparks questions–I have a link right there to ask away!