I was in Tractor Supply Co. today, and saw a bag of grass seed, like the one 
in this picture:
http://www.mutualindustries.com/html/products_new/56-50.jpg.  Right above 
the "LAWN and SEED" verbage it says "Copyright Applied For" (granted, it's 
impossible to fully read in this picture).

I'm not sure where to start.  Ok, the printed material on the bag is 
copyrighted.  No need to apply.  Put the symbol there if you want.  Register 
it, if you must.  "Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue" could be trademarked, if they 
wanted.  The grass seed, if genetically modified, could be patented (at 
least in the USA).

So, what the heck does "Copyright Applied For" mean?  To my knowledge, it 
doesn't even make sense.  Ok, I guess they could have decided to register 
the copyright for printed bag material, but why?  And why tell everyone?

Perhaps it's just there for effect?  "It sounds cool, so let's put it on the 
bag"?  My best guess...

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On Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:14:57 -0400, UncleHoot wrote:

> I was in Tractor Supply Co. today, and saw a bag of grass seed, like the
> one in this picture:
> http://www.mutualindustries.com/html/products_new/56-50.jpg.  Right
> above the "LAWN and SEED" verbage it says "Copyright Applied For"
> (granted, it's impossible to fully read in this picture).
> 
> I'm not sure where to start.  Ok, the printed material on the bag is
> copyrighted.  No need to apply.  Put the symbol there if you want. 
> Register it, if you must.  "Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue" could be
> trademarked, if they wanted.  The grass seed, if genetically modified,
> could be patented (at least in the USA).
> 
> So, what the heck does "Copyright Applied For" mean?  To my knowledge,
> it doesn't even make sense.  Ok, I guess they could have decided to
> register the copyright for printed bag material, but why?  And why tell
> everyone?
> 
> Perhaps it's just there for effect?  "It sounds cool, so let's put it on
> the bag"?  My best guess...

In the US, there are two types of copyright:  Implied, and explicit.

Implied copyright is what is applied if no actual official copyright is 
registered.

Explicit copyright means that the author/publisher/creator filed a 
copyright with the US copyright office.

If you do nothing, you get an implied copyright, but your ability to 
enforce your rights as the creator are somewhat more limited than if you 
apply for an explicit copyright.  If you file for copyright and then need 
to assert it, having it registered means there's a record of the date of 
creation of the work.  If it's not registered, then you have to rely on 
less formal documentation that could be less compelling in court.

But other than that, I agree with you - it seems silly in this instance.

Jim

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