Brent's Two Cents

Why Is Our Money Copyrighted?

I was looking at a bill the other day, and I noticed the following very small text at the bottom of a $10 bill: ©2005 BANK OF CANADA.

Why on earth do we need a copyright notice on our money? After all, it's a banknote and there is already a whole regime of law devoted to punishing those who make illegal copies of it. What possible benefit does a copyright notice convey? Perhaps its a little joke.

So, if I were to make some counterfeit money, would I be charged with copyright violation in addition to the funny-money crime? Maybe they're copyrighting the artwork and images on the money. But why? It's not like the Bank of Canada is a commercial interest that makes money (so to speak) from these images, so why do they need copyright protection?

I'm just curious, that's all.

Posted by Brent Marykuca at November 29, 2005 03:46 PM