>To protect intellectual property, I am advised that a simple
>copyright notice affords **very** strong protection for zero cost.
>
>Patent implies disclosure, and is expensive, copyright can be
>applied to the circuit design, the pcb layout, the code itself.
>and best of all costs nothing. [This idea...(c) ray gardiner 1996]
                                 ^^^^^^^^^

        Copyright protects only the form of expression of
        an idea, not the idea itself.

        Indeed, the 'work' being copyrighted doesn't need
        to contain any ideas at all.  Thus, a train time-
        table can be protected by copyright.

        By appending a copyright message you have not
        protected the idea embodied in the above text.

___Bob