"Omission of Notice and Errors in Notice."

The Copyright Office does not take a position on whether reprints of
works first published with notice before March 1, 1989, which are
distributed on or after March 1, 1989, must bear the copyright notice.


WHAT IS PUBLICATION?

The 1976 Copyright Act defines publication as "the distribution of
copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer
of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending." An offering to
distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of
further distribution, public performance, or public display also
constitutes publication. The following do not constitute publication:
printing or other reproduction of copies, performing or displaying a
work publicly, or sending copies to the Copyright Office.


COPYRIGHT NOTICE NOT REQUIRED ON UNPUBLISHED WORKS

The copyright notice has never been required on unpublished works.
However, because the dividing line between a preliminary distribution
and actual publication is sometimes difficult to determine, the
copyright owner may wish to place a copyright notice on copies or
phonorecords that leave his or her control to indicate that rights are
claimed.

An appropriate notice for an unpublished work might be: Unpublished work
(C in a circle symbol) 1998 John Doe.