Access Copyright Claims Trademark On The Copyright Symbol

from the you-have-to-be-kidding-me dept

Okay. This is just insane. Via Howard Knopf, we learn that Canadian copyright licensing agency Access Copyright is claiming to hold the trademark on the classic copyright symbol: ©. You can see it in their new website: While there are three TMs in the image, at least two of them (top logo and in the righthand column) appear to be on the copyright symbol itself. You can see one directly here: Are they serious? I mean, I recognize that maximalists believe strongly in copyright, patents and trademarks together... but it still seems insane that a group like Access Copyright would make a totally ridiculous trademark claim on the © symbol.

Filed Under: canada, copyright, copyright symbol, trademark
Companies: access copyright