How to add a copyright page to the report class.

Question

How do I add a copyright page, just after the title page in the report or book class? (Like in standard books about a block of a copyright license at the bottom of the page).

Answer 1

I prefer to add the "second page" automatically. This keeps the author interface clean.

I simply define a macro \def\secondpage

which I add to the \maketitle macro using \g@addto@macro.

When the author inserts the command \maketitle, it will also typeset the copyright page. Here is the code:

\documentclass{report}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\def\secondpage{\clearpage\null\vfill
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.9\textwidth}
\footnotesize\raggedright
\setlength{\parskip}{0.5\baselineskip}
Copyright \copyright 2010--\the\year\ Dr Salty Pen\par
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and\slash or modify 
this document under the terms of the GNU \ldots. 
\end{minipage}
\vspace*{2\baselineskip}
\cleardoublepage
\rfoot{\thepage}}

\makeatletter
\g@addto@macro{\maketitle}{\secondpage}
\makeatother

Answer 2

Take a look at the scrreprt class from KOMA-Script which replaces the standard report class. It has an extended \maketitle command which explicitly accommodates the creation of additional pages in the title, e.g. for a copyright notice.

Essentially, the two commands \uppertitleback and \lowertitleback can be set appropriately. They may contain arbitrarily complex text, in particular they may also contain multiple paragraphs.

For instance:

\title{Whatever tickles your fancy}
\author{You}

\uppertitleback{%
  Copyright 2011 by Oompa Loompas of science

  \noindent
  Do not try this at home and use at your own risk!}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

…
\end{document}

Be sure to read the KOMA documentation, section 3.3. where you’ll find more information.

Answer 3

You can use \null\vfill to flush the copyright or any other text to the bottom of the page. A manual \newpage or \clearpage must follow.

\documentclass{report}

\author{John Doe}
\title{Example}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\null\vfill
\noindent
Copyright 2010 -- Example Cooperation\\
Some text ...
\newpage

\chapter{Introduction}
...

\end{document}

Answer 4

In using scrbook, it's important to note that the information on the copyright page needs to be in your document before the \maketitle command. This is a little bit counter-intuitive, since the text on the copyright page will be printed after the title page. Here's my example:

\title{Here is the Title}

\author{Obscure Author}

\begin{document}

\frontmatter

\lowertitleback{

\begin{flushleft}

\textit{Here's the name of the book for the copyright page}

© Anyname, Inc. 

ISBN-1234567891234

\noindent All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permissions contact 
\end{flushleft}}

\maketitle
\mainmatter