{"id":13412,"date":"2019-05-21T13:47:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T13:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=13412"},"modified":"2019-08-29T07:09:38","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T07:09:38","slug":"craig-wright-registers-us-copyright-in-bitcoin-0-1-and-the-bitcoin-white-paper-what-this-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/21\/craig-wright-registers-us-copyright-in-bitcoin-0-1-and-the-bitcoin-white-paper-what-this-means\/","title":{"rendered":"Craig Wright registers US copyright in Bitcoin 0.1 and the Bitcoin white paper \u2014 what this means"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"FullNameGroup\">Dr. Craig S. Wright has just filed US copyright registrations with the Library of Congress on <a href=\"https:\/\/cocatalog.loc.gov\/cgi-bin\/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=15&amp;ti=1,15&amp;Search_Arg=bitcoin&amp;Search_Code=FT%2A&amp;CNT=25&amp;PID=nzoD_881lnuCunVeTvIfD742gwJ8&amp;SEQ=20190521081301&amp;SID=1\">&#8220;Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System&#8221;<\/a> (the white paper) and on <a href=\"https:\/\/cocatalog.loc.gov\/cgi-bin\/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=14&amp;ti=1,14&amp;Search_Arg=bitcoin&amp;Search_Code=FT%2A&amp;CNT=25&amp;PID=nzoD_881lnuCunVeTvIfD742gwJ8&amp;SEQ=20190521081301&amp;SID=1\">the code for Bitcoin 0.1.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The registrations give authorship as &#8220;Satoshi Nakamoto, pseud. of Craig Steven Wright, 1970- (author of pseudonymous work); Domicile: United Kingdom; Citizenship: Antigua and Barbuda. Authorship: text.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Anyone can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/help\/faq\/faq-register.html\">file a copyright claim online,<\/a> and pay a fee by card right then. The claim is made under penalty of perjury.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/03\/news-bitfinex-and-tether-latest-craig-wright-man-of-action-india-bans-cryptos\/craig-wright-113\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13150\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-13150\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/craig-wright-113.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/craig-wright-113.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/craig-wright-113-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/craig-wright-113-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/craig-wright-113-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>What does this mean?<\/h3>\n<p>Firstly, what it doesn&#8217;t mean:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>it doesn&#8217;t mean Bitcoin wasn&#8217;t copyrighted before \u2014 all works in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Berne_Convention\">Berne Convention<\/a> countries are born copyrighted.<\/li>\n<li>it does <em>not<\/em> mean the US Government certifies Craig Wright as the creator of Bitcoin \u2014 it just means Wright has registered the claims.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You have a copyright in the US if you create a work. But if you want to bring a suit for copyright infringement in federal court, you need to register the copyright. That&#8217;s the job that US copyright registration presently does.<\/p>\n<h3>The press release<\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/coingeek.com\/bitcoin-creator-craig-s-wright-satoshi-nakamoto-granted-us-copyright-registrations-for-bitcoin-white-paper-and-code\/\">full text of the press release<\/a> is up on Calvin Ayre&#8217;s site CoinGeek. The interesting bits are:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Importantly, the registrations issued by the U.S. Copyright Office recognize Wright as the author \u2014 under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto \u2014 of both the white paper and code. This is the first government agency recognition of Craig Wright as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is simply incorrect \u2014 all it recognises is that Wright filled in an online form, on which he listed &#8220;Satoshi Nakamoto&#8221; as his pseudonym, and paid $35.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Notably, when reviewing Wright\u2019s copyright applications, the U.S. copyright examiner was aware that the Bitcoin white paper and code were each a \u201cfamous work\u201d and there have been questions about who is associated with the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Copyright registrations are routinely accepted. Multiple people can \u2014 and do! \u2014 file conflicting registrations of a single work.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Wright is now legally establishing that he is Bitcoin\u2019s creator after being dismayed to see his original Bitcoin design bastardized by protocol developer groups \u2014 first by Bitcoin Core [BTC] in 2017 and then again by Bitcoin Cash [BCH] developers in 2018.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is presumably what he <em>wants<\/em> the registration to do \u2014 even if the registration does not, in fact, establish any such thing.<\/p>\n<h3>Consequences of a false claim<\/h3>\n<p>There isn&#8217;t really much legal danger from filing a <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150617102003\/http:\/\/www.nyulawreview.org\/sites\/default\/files\/pdf\/NYULawReview-81-3-Mazzone.pdf\">false copyright registration.<\/a> The precise wording of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/17\/506\">17 U.S.C. \u00a7 506(e)<\/a> is:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>(e) False Representation.\u2014<br \/>\nAny person who knowingly makes a false representation of a material fact in the application for copyright registration provided for by section 409, or in any written statement filed in connection with the application, shall be fined not more than $2,500.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But this is almost never prosecuted \u2014 <em>e.g.<\/em>, there were two prosecutions under 506(e) in 2000.<\/p>\n<p>But \u2014 knowingly making a false claim of copyright and then attempting to enforce it in court would certainly constitute fraud.<\/p>\n<p>There is no way to challenge a registration of copyright. However, others can file conflicting claims on the same work. The claimants may sue each other for damages caused by misrepresentation.<\/p>\n<h3>What can Wright do with this?<\/h3>\n<p>Not a lot, really.<\/p>\n<p>Registration is considered <em>prima facie<\/em> evidence of the claims in the registration \u2014 <em>if<\/em> the registration occurs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/circs\/circ01.pdf#page=7\">within five years<\/a> of first publication. That&#8217;s not the case here.<\/p>\n<p>Wright might have some problems suing for copyright violation \u2014 for instance, if he wanted to sue those &#8220;protocol developer groups&#8221; he claims &#8220;bastardized&#8221; Bitcoin. The software was licensed under the open-source MIT License, which allows all manner of reuse, open or proprietary. The license text is:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Copyright (c) 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto<br \/>\nDistributed under the MIT\/X11 software license, see the accompanying<br \/>\nfile license.txt or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.opensource.org\/licenses\/mit-license.php\">http:\/\/www.opensource.org\/licenses\/mit-license.php<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The license granted is:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the &#8220;Software&#8221;), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and\/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:<\/p>\n<p>The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That is \u2014 the MIT License is <i>explicitly<\/i> a grant of rights to do <i>whatever the hell you like<\/i> with the software, as long as you include the notice text.<\/p>\n<p>Open source licenses are generally treated as perpetual and irrevocable. There is also <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Estoppel\">estoppel<\/a> \u2014 you can&#8217;t release software, encourage its reuse, wait ten years and then sue people for using it under the license you released it under.<\/p>\n<p>So it&#8217;s entirely unclear what Wright or nChain get out of this registration. Apart from <a href=\"https:\/\/decryptmedia.com\/7124\/craig-wright-claims-patent-for-bitcoin-white-paper\">unimpressed press coverage.<\/a><\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What can Wright do with this? Not a lot, really.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,146],"class_list":["post-13412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-bitcoin","tag-craig-wright"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13412"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14453,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13412\/revisions\/14453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}