"All rights reserved" is a phrase that originated in copyright law as a formal requirement for copyright notice. It indicates that the copyright holder reserves, or holds for their own use, all the rights provided by copyright law.

 

A copyright notice is a notice of statutorily prescribed form that informs users of the underlying claim to copyright ownership in a published work such as Medicine Hat Directory.

Copyright is a form of protection provided by law to authors of "original works of authorship".

 

When a work is published under the authority of the copyright owner,(MHDGlobal) a notice of copyright may be placed on all publicly distributed copies or phonorecords. The use of the notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require permission from, or registration with, the Copyright Office.

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Use of the notice informs the public that Medicine Hat Directory is protected by copyright, identifies the copyright owner,(MHDGlobal) and shows the year of first publication, (1999).

 

Furthermore, in the event that a work is infringed, if the work carries a proper notice, the court will not give any weight to a defendant’s use of an innocent infringement defense—that is, to a claim that the defendant did not realize that the work was protected. An innocent infringement defense can result in a reduction in damages that the copyright owner would otherwise receive.

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The law no longer requires the use of a copyright notice, although placing it on a work does confer certain benefits to the copyright holder. Prior law did, however, require a notice, and the use of a notice is still relevant to the copyright status of older works.

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