Registration predates copyright; prior to the Statute of Anne, books were registered with the Company of Stationers beginning in the 16th century.
An assignment should be registered where the original copyright was registered.
Yes, you can use the copyright symbol () even if your work is not registered. The symbol indicates that the work is protected by copyright law, whether it is registered or not.
Copyright is automatic, as soon as a work of sufficient originality is fixed in a tangible medium.
Aquacoir is protected by patent and trademark, not copyright. The trademark is registered to OMS Investments.
Words and short phrases do not qualify for copyright protection. Cheerios is a registered trademark.
Individual words do not qualify for copyright protection, and there is no trademark registered with that word.
Business names are not copyrightable; they can be registered as trademarks.
The first copyright law took effect in 1710; however the earliest materials to still be protected would be those published or registered in 1923 and later renewed, which will not go into the public domain (in the US) until 2018.
Catchme.com is registered to Slingshot Labs.
Although the Aldrete score was formally registered with the Copyright Office in 2004, ten years after it was first published, it does not appear that Dr. Aldrete has enforced that copyright in any way.
The current act (15 November 1988) was designed to restate and amend the 1949 Registered Designs Act and the 1939 Patents, Designs, Copyright and Trade Marks (Emergency) Act. It was amended in 1990 and 1991. There were major copyright acts in 1956 and 1911, and of course the first copyright act was in 1709.
Names and short phrases don't qualify for copyright protection. Many names are registered trademarks.