Publishing Standard

enkidu007

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How come people don't put "copyright 2014" or copyright logo on book cover, but only inside the book?

Would it look tacky if I put it on the copyright logo and date on book cover?
 

threetoedsloth

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From a non-professional standpoint, I feel it would ruin the aesthetic value of the cover.
 

SierraLee

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It kind of would look tacky to me, yeah. Why would you want that on the cover, anyway?
 

DancingMaenid

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I'm not a publishing professional, but I've always seen the copyright notice as a fine print sort of thing. It's there for legal and informational reasons, but it's not critical cover information. I'm not sure I see what purpose would it serve to place it on the cover. The only possible benefit I can think of is making it clearer when the book was published. But that's not really necessary information for the cover, and sometimes books that have multiple editions will have multiple copyright dates.
 

dangerousbill

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Would it look tacky if I put it on the copyright logo and date on book cover?

Yes. The impression it gives is lack of professionalism and perhaps paranoia.

I've seen copyright notices on the back cover, but it's rare. Anyone looking for a copyright notice should know to look on the reverse of the title page, known as 'the copyright page' (although it usually contains more information than that).

Why would you want to put it up front like that? Anyone wanting to pirate your book will just do it, with or without obliterating the notice.
 

frimble3

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And, putting the copyright on the front cover immediately dates the book. Which may or may not matter to you, but I was told that's the reason that studios put film copyrights in Roman numerals, so that casual viewers don't realize they're watching last year's hit.
 

Lillith1991

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How come people don't put "copyright 2014" or copyright logo on book cover, but only inside the book?

Would it look tacky if I put it on the copyright logo and date on book cover?

To answer your question, and please excuse the snark. Because there's a designated area for it inside the actual book, it goes with all the other information like the book's original print date, and ISBN. And yes, yes it would look tacky to have it on the front.