I think that your advice is excellent. Thank you for correcting my mistake. In the US the © symbol has legal meaning but the legal definition of the (c) is not as clear. To create the Copyright Symbol on a Mac hold the ALT key and press the letter G. On a PC try Ctrl+Alt+C or Alt+0169 on the ten key number pad. You can also create the symbol in a word processing program or find it on the Windows Character map and then cut and paste it into the appropriate Metadata field.

I’ll go one further too and suggest that simply marking your copyright is not sufficient protection in the United States. As I understand it, for true legal protection an image must be both marked and registered with the United States Copyright Office before any infringement occurs. For more on how to register you copyright check out this excellent tutorial from the American Society of Media Photographers and this article from attorney Carolyn Wright. It is my understanding too that the copyright mark has far less legal weight in other countries, particularly the EU, then the legal terms spelled out in the Rights-Usage Metadata Fields.

Thanks again for the great comment.

David

“Visually Perceptible Copies
The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all three elements described below. They should appear together or in close proximity on the copies.
1 The symbol © (letter C in a circle); the word “Copyright”;
or the abbreviation “Copr.”
2 The year of first publication. If the work is a derivative
work or a compilation incorporating previously published
material, the year date of first publication of the derivative work or compilation is sufficient. Examples of derivative works are translations or dramatizations; an example of a compilation is an anthology. The year may be omitted when a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, with
accompanying textual matter, if any, is reproduced in or
on greeting cards, postcards, stationery, jewelry, dolls, toys, or useful articles.
3 The name of the copyright owner, an abbreviation by
which the name can be recognized, or a generally known
alternative designation of owner.
Example © 2007 Jane Doe”