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I happened to notice that different books published by Springer sometimes have slightly different names listed next to the copyright © symbol. For instance:

In the first example we have "LLC", in the second "Inc.", and in the third the place of publication (I think?) "New York". There's also a space between the "+" symbol and "Business" in the first example, which is not there in the other two.

I know these are really minor differences that won't come up in any matter of significance. It's just that I'm curious and want to know why there are these minor differences. I would expect the name printed on the copyright page to be standardised so I found it surprising to see (what looks like) inconsistencies and typos.

What is the reason for these differences in the copyright information?

Some additional information which might or might not be relevant:

  • These are all Mathematics textbooks. The first belongs to the series Universitext, the second to GTM (Graduate Texts in Mathematics), and the third to PBM (Problem Books in Mathematics). However, the differences are not consistent across the different series (one can check by going through other books in the links above).

  • The Wikipedia page on Springer mentions that Springer Science+Business Media became a part of Springer Nature through a series of mergers, but that happened in 2015, which is after the dates of publication of my examples.

  • I have tried looking up the difference between LLC and Inc. on the web, but I haven’t understood enough to be able to point out anything of help.

  • I searched for related questions on the SE network (specifically on Law SE, Academia SE and Mathematics SE) and found the following question on Academia SE that is related but significantly different: Referencing Springer products: what name to use for the publisher?

  • I might add that I’m not entirely sure that this is on-topic here. Some kind folks over at Meta SE suggested I might be able to get help here. I would be happy to take suggestions for improvement (in particular, are there any other tags that I could add?) –  Apr 22 '20 at 03:19
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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springer_Science%2BBusiness_Media lists major events around each of these years ("They merged the company in 2004 ... to form Springer Science+Business Media." "In 2009, Cinven and Candover sold Springer to two private equity firms, ... confirmed in February 2010." "In 2013, the London-based private equity firm BC Partners acquired a majority stake in Springer") Not just the 2015 merger. – muru Apr 22 '20 at 03:43
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    I’m voting to close this question because it's not about literature but commercial law or something similarly tenuously related to literature. – kimchi lover Apr 22 '20 at 13:41
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    Sorry that your question got closed after I recommended you here :-( I voted to leave open as did others, but more people voted to close. I hope you won't be put off this site, since you've already provided a nice answer here and it'd be good to see you stick around. – Rand al'Thor Apr 23 '20 at 12:10
  • @Randal'Thor Oh! No need to apologise, you did give me fair warning that it might be closed. And, my question really is an odd fit for this site, so I was mentally prepared for a closure. My guess is I might get a similar response at Writing SE, so perhaps I'll try at Law SE (after checking their scope properly, of course). @muru's comment is also a good starting point. –  Apr 23 '20 at 14:03
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    @Randal'Thor I'm not put off by the closure at all—like I said, I was mentally prepared for it. In fact, asking my question here has made me explore the site more than just dropping by through the HNQ. And I must say, the quality of this SE is impressive! I'm not sure how much I can contribute, but perhaps I'll become a more frequent lurker here :) –  Apr 23 '20 at 14:05
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    @Brahadeesh - Questions about "the publishing and editing process itself" are specifically on-topic at https://writing.stackexchange.com (and IMO better suits it), if you want to try there. I will vote not to re-open so you don't get flagged for cross-posting. But please do come back :-) – Andrew Cheong Apr 26 '20 at 23:43
  • @AndrewCheong No issues, leaving it closed might be better if I post it at another SE, as you said. I was actually recommended Writing SE at first, and I'll be sure to give it another look. I do hope to stick around, at least to read the content here if not to contribute my own. :) –  Apr 29 '20 at 04:38
  • FYI, this question now has 4 of the necessary 5 votes to reopen, and you have enough rep (250+) to vote to reopen your own question. The choice is yours now :-) – Rand al'Thor Apr 29 '20 at 16:49
  • Well, I never! Thanks for the ping @Randal'Thor, I'll add my reopen vote :) –  Apr 29 '20 at 16:51

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