
Ī copyright notice was first required in the U.S. Prior symbols indicating a work's copyright status are seen in Scottish almanacs of the 1670s books included a printed copy of the local coat-of-arms to indicate their authenticity. copyright law, but its presence or absence is legally significant on works published before that date, and it continues to affect remedies available to a copyright holder whose work is infringed.

In the United States, the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, effective March 1, 1989, removed the requirement for the copyright symbol from U.S. The symbol is widely recognized but, under the Berne Convention, is no longer required in most nations to assert a new copyright.

The use of the symbol is described by the Universal Copyright Convention. The copyright symbol, or copyright sign, © (a circled capital letter C for copyright), is the symbol used in copyright notices for works other than sound recordings.
