Poor man's copyright is a method of using registered dating by the

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

, a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

or other highly trusted source to date

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

, thereby helping to establish that the material has been in one's possession since a particular time. The concept is based on the notion that, in the event that such intellectual property were to be misused by a third party, the poor-man's

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

would at least establish a legally recognized date of possession before any proof which a third party may possess. In countries with no central copyright registration authority, it can be difficult for an author to prove when their work was created. The

United Kingdom Patent Office The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (often referred to as the UK IPO) is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK ...

says this:

... a copy could be deposited with a bank or solicitor. Alternatively, a creator could send himself or herself a copy by special delivery post (which gives a clear date stamp on the envelope), leaving the envelope unopened on its return. A number of private companies operate unofficial registers, but it would be sensible to check carefully what you will be paying for before choosing this route. This does not prove that a work is original or created by you...

There is no provision in United States copyright law regarding any such type of protection. A work of original authorship is protected by United States copyright law once it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. According to section 412 of the U.S.

Copyright Act of 1976 The Copyright Act of 1976 is a United States copyright law and remains the primary basis of copyright law in the United States, as amended by several later enacted copyright provisions. The Act spells out the basic rights of copyright holders, ...

(17 U.S.C. 408), registration of a work with the Copyright Office is a prerequisite for copyright protection. Poor man's copyright is therefore not a substitute for registration. Eric Goldman has noted that there is an absence of cases that give any value to the poor man's copyright. He also states, "To establish copyright infringement, the author must show copying-in-fact and wrongful copying. The postmark has no relevance to the wrongful copying question." However, according to the Copyright Alliance, the postmark could provide some value in an infringement action if it is used as evidence that the work existed on a particular date, or before the date of creation of another work.

References

{{Reflist Authentication methods Copyright law Postal systems

See also

References