FCC license copy without the Rference Copy printing?

How do I download a copy from the FCC web site without the Reference Copy stamp? Thank you!

73, Tad, K3TD

 

I believe you have to be logged in with your password.....

 

https://www.arrl.org/obtain-license-copy

Perhaps a FAQ on this website (QRZ.com) would be a helpful resource.

 

If there’s a way to print one out without OFFICIAL COPY defacing it, I have not figured it out

 

That is the choice set - Reference or Official.

 

...or Photoshop

 

edit PDF files with Libre Office Draw. easy to remove the watermark.

 

That worked once I was signed in - THANK YOU!

 

That's because that's what it is - a copy. Your license does not exist in a piece of paper, it exists in the FCC's database.

 

Understood - you can print out a 'Reference Copy', or an 'Official Copy' at the FCC web site if you are logged in. I believe someone was offering a clear copy without a watermark in the past, but can't recall who and it may have been for a small fee.

 

I am not surprised. It's just a piece of paper with some information on it - I don't even know why there's a difference between a "reference" and "official" copy - but I'm sure any properly vetted attorney could tell me.
The service you alluded to probably reproduced the blank form (as exactly as possible, minus any watermarks) and populated it with your info in the license-matching font for a fee. I would expect some obscure federal law to prohibit this, but until someone tries to put one over on the feds it would probably be mostly overlooked.

 

You are 100% correct sir. Spot on and exellent point

 

I like many here remember the day when the FCC would send you a hard copy of your license when you renewed it..And it did not have that ghastly OFFICIAL COPY stamp plastered on it in an unsightly manner.

 

Yep, I just pulled my 2004 FCC license from when I upgraded to Extra and got this vanity call. It also states "...sign immediately upon receipt. They are not valid until signed". And... I didn't sign it! The horror! I'm a pirate!

 

And yet the "Official Copy" stamp is for the braindead bureaucrats that know noting of HAM Radio or the FCC - but love the look of the "Official copy" watermarked.

Just the thing for TSA weenies.



see? It's "Official".

The only thing better would be multiple stamps, an embossed seal or two and some real color.

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