The copyright symbol is the letter C inside a circle: ©. You put it on a creative work to signal that the work is protected by copyright and to identify who owns it. Using the symbol is optional in the United States for anything published on or after March 1, 1989, because copyright protection now attaches automatically the moment you fix an original work in a tangible form.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 102 – Subject Matter of Copyright: In General Even so, displaying a proper notice takes seconds, costs nothing, and closes off one of the most common defenses an infringer can raise.
What a Valid Copyright Notice Looks Like
A complete notice has three pieces, and all three need to sit together on the work:2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 401 – Notice of Copyright: Visually Perceptible Copies
- The symbol ©, the word “Copyright,” or the abbreviation “Copr.” All three carry identical legal weight.
- The year the work was first published, meaning the year copies were first distributed to the public.
- The name of the copyright owner. A recognizable abbreviation or a well-known alternative name also works.
Put together, a standard notice reads: © 2026 Jane Smith.
You will often see “All Rights Reserved” tacked on. It once mattered under the 1910 Buenos Aires Convention, but every country that was party to that treaty later joined the Berne Convention, which does away with formality requirements. The phrase adds no legal protection today, though some creators still use it to signal that a work is not released under an open license.
Where to Place the Symbol
The law asks only that the notice be positioned so it gives “reasonable notice” of the copyright claim. Federal regulations offer accepted positions for common media, and they are examples rather than the only options:3GovInfo. 37 CFR 201.20 – Methods of Affixation and Positions of the Copyright Notice
- Books: the title page, the verso (the page immediately following the title page), either side of the front or back cover, or the first or last page of the main text.
- Films and audiovisual works: with or near the title, alongside the cast and credits, or at the beginning or end of the work. For works distributed for home use, the container also qualifies.
- Websites: a footer on every page is standard because it stays visible throughout the site.
- Software: embedded in the code so it displays when the program runs, or printed on packaging and labels.
The ℗ Symbol for Sound Recordings
Recorded audio uses a different symbol: ℗, the letter P in a circle, sometimes called the phonogram symbol. It covers the recorded performance itself, not the underlying song or lyrics, which is why a music release can carry both marks. The © applies to the composition, artwork, and liner notes, and the ℗ applies to the audio recording.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 402 – Notice of Copyright: Phonorecords of Sound Recordings The ℗ notice takes the same three elements: symbol, year of first publication of the recording, and owner’s name.
Why Bother if the Symbol Is Optional
The practical payoff shows up in an infringement lawsuit. If your published copies carry a proper notice and the infringer had access to those copies, the infringer cannot argue “innocent infringement” to shrink damages.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 401 – Notice of Copyright: Visually Perceptible Copies Without a notice, a defendant who persuades a court that they had no reason to know they were infringing can get statutory damages reduced to as little as $200.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 504 – Remedies for Infringement: Damages and Profits The ordinary statutory range is $750 to $30,000 per work, so the difference matters.
The Symbol Is Not the Same as Registration
Displaying © and registering with the U.S. Copyright Office are two different things, and creators mix them up all the time. The symbol gives notice. Registration gives you the right to walk into court. Federal law bars you from filing an infringement suit on a U.S. work until the Copyright Office has actually processed and registered the claim.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 411 – Registration and Civil Infringement Actions In 2019 the Supreme Court confirmed that submitting an application is not enough; the Office must grant or refuse registration first.7Supreme Court of the United States. Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC
Timing has teeth. To be eligible for statutory damages ($750 to $30,000 per work, or up to $150,000 for willful infringement) and attorney’s fees, you generally have to register before the infringement begins. Published works get a grace period: register within three months of first publication and you stay eligible for statutory damages on infringements that started after publication but before you filed.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 412 – Registration as Prerequisite to Certain Remedies for Infringement Miss the window and you are limited to actual damages and profits, which tend to be smaller and harder to prove. Basic online registration for a single work by a single author costs $45.9U.S. Copyright Office. Fees
It Is Illegal to Strip Someone Else’s Copyright Notice
Removing or altering a copyright notice on someone else’s work is its own federal violation. The law protects “copyright management information,” a category that covers the notice, the author’s name, the owner’s name, and licensing terms.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 1202 – Integrity of Copyright Management Information Distributing a work while knowing its notice has been removed or altered also creates liability, provided the removal was done to help infringement along.
Damages here sit apart from ordinary infringement damages. A court can award $2,500 to $25,000 per violation, plus attorney’s fees and injunctive relief.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 1203 – Civil Remedies And unlike a standard infringement claim, you do not need to have registered the work before the violation to bring one of these claims. That makes the provision useful against people who routinely crop watermarks or scrub bylines off content they repost.
How to Type the Copyright Symbol
On a Windows PC, hold the Alt key and type 0169 on the numeric keypad. The number row above the letters will not work; you need the keypad.
On a Mac, press Option + G.
On an iPhone, switch to the emoji keyboard and find © in the symbols section. On Android, switch to the numbers-and-symbols keyboard, where © is usually one tap away.
In HTML, the entity © renders as © in any browser. Most word processors also offer the symbol through an “Insert Special Character” or “Insert Symbol” menu.