Re: Stargrunt II FAQ

On Mon, 28 Feb 2000, Samuel Reynolds wrote:

> >On Mon, 28 Feb 2000, Steve Pugh wrote:
> >
> >> > Okay folks, I've posted the Unofficial Stargrunt II FAQ v0.5
> >> > 
> >> > http://stargrunt.virtualave.net/faq/index.html
> >> > 
> >> > Please everyone, have a read and suggest away. Also, if there is
an
> >> > answer in the FAQ that you find to be yours and it's unattributed
> >> > (which at this stage, most are) please send me an email so I can
> >> > credit accordingly.
> >> 
> >> Right, I'll fill in the long standing gap in the GZG Meta-FAQ.
> >> 
> >> One thing, you have a few instances of <font 
> >> face="Symbol">&#211;</font> in the code to produce copyright
symbols. 
> >> Not a good idea as not everyone has the Symbol font installed (when
I 
> >> fist visited the site I saw acute accented capital 'O's instead).
Why 
> >> not just use the &copy; entity refereence instead? 
> >
> >even simpler, why not use the (c) combination that is universally
> >recognised on the internet as being the copyright symbol? i'm not
sure
> >whether all browsers will handle &copy; although i expect these days
most
> >will (otoh, try finding a browser which will handle the
greek-character
> >escapes like &alpha;).
> >
> >tom
>  
> (c) is not legally recognized as equivalent to the copyright symbol.

this is an interesting point. first of all, let's see the source. let me
quote the US Code Title 17, chapter 4, section 401, paragraphs a to c (d
being irrelevant):

<cite>

401. Notice of copyright: Visually perceptible copies

(a) General Provisions. - Whenever a work protected under this title is
published in the United States or elsewhere by authority of the
copyright
owner, a notice of copyright as provided by this section may be placed
on
publicly distributed copies from which the work can be visually
perceived,
either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

(b) Form of Notice. - If a notice appears on the copies, it shall
consist
of the following three elements:

(1) the symbol (AF) (the letter C in a circle), or the word
''Copyright'',
or the abbreviation ''Copr.''; and

(2) the year of first publication of the work; in the case of
compilations, or derivative works incorporating previously published
material, the year date of first publication of the compilation or
derivative work is sufficient. The year date may be omitted where a
pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, with accompanying text matter,
if
any, is reproduced in or on greeting cards, postcards, stationery,
jewelry, dolls, toys, or any useful articles; and

(3) the name of the owner of copyright in the work, or an abbreviation
by
which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative
designation of the owner.

(c) Position of Notice. - The notice shall be affixed to the copies in
such manner and location as to give reasonable notice of the claim of
copyright. The Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation, as
examples, specific methods of affixation and positions of the notice on
various types of works that will satisfy this requirement, but these
specifications shall not be considered exhaustive.

</cite>

so as long as you put the word 'copyright' in there, the symbol doesn't
matter. i usually use the (c) anyway for visual effect, as in '(c)
copyright Tom Anderson 2000'. i'm not sure what the situation in other
countries is, but i'm sure it's similar.

> &copy; is recognized by version 3+ NN and IE browsers.

and by Opera, so i should imagine it's fine.

there's still an issue, though. the actual document you're downloading
does not contain a copyright symbol - it contains the string of
characters
"&copy;", which is interpreted by certain software applications to be a
copyright symbol. now, you might argue that this doesn't count, or that
it
does, or that it does only if you view it using a browser which can
render
&copy; correctly. you might also argue that if &copy; is a valid
copyright
sign, then so is (c). anyway, such issues are best left to proper
lawyers,
imho: i'd probably advise that copyright for web pages is done with the
word 'copyright' to satisfy the lawyers, and then some sort of symbol
(&copy; or (c)) to mark it visually.

just my 20 mE.

tom