Copyright Symbol

Copy ©, ℗, ® and friends with one click, build a ready-to-paste notice, and learn when each one belongs.

U+00A9|©

Pick a symbol

Tap to preview, double-tap to copy

The real one. Use this in notices, footers and credits.

Build your notice

Fill in the blanks and copy a finished line for your footer, README or credits.

Owner name

First published (optional, makes a range up to 2026)

Style

Ending

What are the copyright symbols?

Only a few of these characters have legal weight. The rest are lookalikes that are handy for design but won't do anything in a dispute.

The real one. Use this in notices, footers and credits.

Ⓒ

Circled capital CDecorative

Looks similar, but it's just a decorative letter. It carries no legal meaning.

ⓒ

Circled small cDecorative

Another lookalike. Fine for style, not for a copyright notice.

©️

The same © with an emoji presentation selector. Looks different across phones and apps.

℗

Sound recording (phonogram)Recognized

Marks rights in a sound recording, separate from the song or composition itself.

🄯

CopyleftDecorative

A mirrored C. Signals 'share it freely, but keep the same terms'.

ↄ

Reversed cDecorative

A Latin letter often used as a typed stand-in for copyleft.

Registered trademarkRecognized

A trademark that has been registered with a trademark office.

™

TrademarkRecognized

Claims a brand name or logo, registered or not.

℠

Service markRecognized

Like ™, but for services instead of products.

How to use the copyright symbol

A notice is three small pieces in a row. Put them together and anyone reading knows whose work it is and since when.

The mark

The symbol, or the word 'Copyright'

2026

The year

When the work first came out

Jane Doe

The owner

A person or a company

That last sentence is optional. It adds emphasis but doesn't change your rights.

Where are the copyright symbols used?

Anywhere someone might see your work and wonder if they can reuse it.

Website footers

The classic spot. Visitors look at the bottom of the page first.

Books & PDFs

On the copyright page, right after the title page, or on the last page.

Film & TV credits

In the final credits, next to the production company.

Music & albums

On covers and liner notes. Use ℗ for the recording itself.

Newsletters & emails

Tucked into the footer, next to the unsubscribe link.

Software & code

In file headers, README files and license files.

Photos & artwork

In the corner, in the caption, or inside the image metadata.

Slides & reports

On the cover and in the footer of each page.

How to type the copyright symbol

Pick your device. Or skip the shortcuts and use the copy button at the top of the page.

Windows

Alt+0169

Hold Alt, type 0169 on the numpad, release Alt

Mac

Option+G

Press Option and G together

Linux / ChromeOS

Ctrl+Shift+U+a9

Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type a9, then Enter

Word & Outlook

(c)

Type (c) and let autocorrect swap it

iPhone

Text Replacement

Add a Text Replacement in Settings > Keyboard, like 'cpr' for ©

Android

?123=\<

On Gboard: ?123, then =\<, and © is on that page

For developers

HTML	`©`
HTML (number)	`©`
HTML (hex)	`©`
CSS	`\00A9`
JavaScript / JSON	`\u00A9`
LaTeX	`\copyright`
Slack / GitHub	`:copyright:`

Copyright vs trademark vs registered

They look alike and get mixed up all the time, but each one protects a different kind of thing.

Protects: Creative work: writing, photos, music, art, code
How you get it: Exists the moment you create the work. Registration is optional.
Who can use it: The creator or whoever they transferred the rights to
How long: Usually the author's life plus decades

™

Trademark

Protects: Names, logos and slogans that identify a brand
How you get it: You gain common-law rights by using it in business. Filing is optional.
Who can use it: Anyone using the mark to sell goods or services
How long: As long as you keep using it

Registered

Protects: A mark that a government trademark office has approved
How you get it: Only after successful registration. Using it without one can be illegal.
Who can use it: Only the registered owner
How long: Renewable, as long as you keep using and renewing

Quick test: Did you make it (a story, a song, a photo)? That's ©. Does it name your brand? That's ™, and ® once it's registered.

The © sign is understood almost everywhere. Many places still add a phrase in the local language, which makes a notice feel at home to readers.

Country	Common phrase	Notes
Japan	著作権 chosakuken	Often shown beside © on official documents and publications.
China	版权 bǎnquán	You'll see it right next to © on websites and in print.
Russia	Авторское право Avtorskoye pravo	Common in formal publications and legal text.
Saudi Arabia & Arab world	حقوق النشر محفوظة huqooq al-nashr mahfootha	The text runs right to left, so check how © sits beside it.
Brazil	Direitos reservados All rights reserved	Usually follows the name of the owner.
France	Tous droits réservés All rights reserved	A standard line in footers and print.
Germany	Alle Rechte vorbehalten All rights reserved	Very common right after the year and owner.
Spain & Latin America	Todos los derechos reservados All rights reserved	Typical in footers and book credits.

Thanks to the Berne Convention, protection doesn't depend on any of this. Local wording is a courtesy, not a requirement.

Common mistakes, and how to fix them

Most of these take ten seconds to correct.

Using ® or ™ when you mean copyright

Leaving out the owner's name

A notice without a name doesn't say who to ask for permission. Add a person or company after the year.

Using the wrong or a future year

Use the year of first publication. For a site you update, a range like 2019–2026 is clear and honest.

Typing (c) and calling it done

Thinking the symbol is what makes you the owner

Ownership starts when you create the work. The symbol is a public reminder, not a license to exist.

Hiding the notice or making it unreadable

Put it where people expect it: a footer, a title page, the credits. Keep the text legible.

Marking things copyright can't protect

Ideas, facts, short names and titles aren't covered. Name them as trademarks if they identify a brand.

How to use the copyright symbol correctly

Using it is optional, but it's cheap insurance. Without a notice, someone who copies your work can claim they didn't know it was protected, which can lower the damages you'd get.

Notices that work

"No rights reserved" tells people they're free to reuse the work. If that's what you want, say so.

Checklist before you publish

All three parts are there: mark, year, owner
The year matches first publication
The owner name is spelled correctly
It's easy to find and easy to read
It's on every copy or page of the work
You'll update the range when the work changes

Where did copyright come from?

The idea is a few centuries older than the symbol. It grew up alongside printing.

1440s
The printing press makes copying cheap and fast. Suddenly, who gets to print what becomes a real question.
1557
England grants London's printers a royal charter. It's about control and censorship more than authors, but it's the seed of the idea.
1710
The Statute of Anne in Britain gives authors, not just printers, rights over their books for a fixed time.
1886
The Berne Convention sets shared rules between countries, and later makes protection automatic.
1989
The US joins Berne. A notice becomes optional, though still useful.

More symbols and tools