Enter the Copyright Symbol (©) on the iPhone Keyboard

Enter the Copyright Symbol ( © ) on iPhone

by | Feb 22, 2024 | iPhone and iPad

Need to place a copyright notice under a document and don’t like to work with ‘(c)’? Find out here how to enter a genuine copyright symbol ( © ) with the iPhone keyboard.

First, the Universal Copyright Convention May Not Have the (c) on Copyright

It is a rich history of international politics, trade relations, and, of course, piracy that has brought the world at least two (and perhaps three) in many ways competing treaties on international copyright claims.

In any event, the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) established in 1952 does not have the copyright on such claims. The Berne Convention proceeded it by some 66 years.

The UCC can claim for itself the copyright symbol, though, right in article III (which is appropriately convoluted):

“[Any state shall regard foreign copyright claims fulfilled] if from the time of the first publication all the copies of the work […] bear the symbol © accompanied by the name of the copyright proprietor and the year of first publication”

Universal Copyright Convention

Now, want to follow that convention?

How to Enter the Copyright Symbol ( © ) on the iPhone Keyboard

Time needed: 1 minute

To type the copyright sign ( © ) with the iPhone keyboard:

  1. Check (or know) a text replacement for the copyright sign is present on your iPhone.

    Here’s how: See below for accessing text replacements.
    By default: Apple adds this symbol as a suggested text replacement.

  2. Position the text cursor where you want the copyright symbol to appear.

    Here’s where: Make the copyright sign stand in for the word “copyright”. It is best to surround the copyright symbol with non-breaking whitespace characters or (often preferably for aesthetic reasons) narrow non-breaking space.

  3. Type (c) using the iPhone keyboard.

    No whitespace: Make sure the parentheses and the letter ‘c’ are not separated by whitespace.
    Uppercase, lowercase: You can use uppercase or lowercase ‘c’, whichever you fancy.

  4. Now hit Space or enter the punctuation mark that fits to have the iPhone keyboard replace (c) with ©.

    Alternative: You can also tap © in the auto-completion bar above the keyboard.
    Enter the copyright symbol on the iPhone keyboard using text replacement

How to Set up Text Replacement for the Copyright Symbol on iPhone

To create a shortcut for entering the copyright sign on an iPhone:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Select General.
  3. Now open the Keyboard category.
  4. Pick Text Replacement.
  5. Check for an entry for © already being present.
    Here’s where: You will find it in the # section, and you can use the Search field on top, of course, entering (c), for instance.
  6. If there is no entry yet, tap +.
  7. Copy the copyright symbol: © .
  8. Paste the symbol under Phrase.
  9. Enter (c) under Shortcut.
    Your own: You can, of course, choose a different shortcut.

How to Enter the Copyright Symbol ( © ) on the iPhone Keyboard: FAQ

Is the copyright symbol on the iPhone keyboard at all?

No, you can only insert the copyright sign using text replacement or pasting. The iPhon keyboard does not offer direct access to it.

Is there an alternative to using text replacement?

Wherever you would insert the copyright symbol, you can use textual alternatives:

  • Use the full word copyright if space permits it.
  • Substitute (c) (the lowercase letter ‘c’ in parentheses) if you need a shorthand for “copyright”, but the font in use does not include the symbol.
    Alternative font: You can also change the font only for the copyright sign to one that approximates the desired typeface but does include ©.

(How to enter the copyright symbol ( © ) on the iPhone keyboard tested with iOS 15–17; updated February 2024)

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