| First note that this page is relating to copyrighting web site content and that copyright laws and copyright applications are subject to change and that we here have no clams to being a copyright expert.
Having said that a copyright is, The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work of or relating to a copyright: copyright law; a copyright agreement. Protected by copyright means you need permission to publish copyright material. Its a form of a property law. It protects an author or creator from his or her creations from being pirated or used without permission. It does not protect the idea, mechanics or method of the information. This is not just for hard copy documents it also applies to a web page that sit on a remote sever somewhere. The law applies here as well. The copyright laws that apply to written material, photographs, and a of other items apply to the Internet as well. You cannot just take and use what ever you want. how ever linking to another copyrighted page is not against the law, its just linking to the page rather than displaying their page on your site.
All though the creator of the copyrighted content has the right to deny you permission in creating a link to their site has the right to demand you unlink from their site. Some people are like that! But not to worry. I believe you'll find that 99% of the web page owners on the internet would be more then happy that you linked to their site because its extra traffic for them that they would not have gotten.
So here is how to copyright your site. You simply need to place the word "copyright" and the circled ©, the year and the name of the author.
This page © Copyright 2000, MegabiteDesign.com.
You should placed this on the main page of your site, if not every page of your site. You could send a form to the government as well. Its strictly voluntary. The Copyright Office will catalogue your site, It will cost $20.00 plus shipping. Its not required. As fare as bring a civil suit against someone for a copyright infringement. You can go after damages to recover any losses. However, you can only attempt to get punitive damages (punishment money) if you are registered with the Copyright Office. A copyright last until you've been dead for 50 years. Minors are allowed copyright protection.
How do you register with the Copyright Office. You do that by simply filling out the application form (TX) This is the one for a web site. The form is available from the Copyright Office Home Page. Fill it out, print a copy of your web site and send it in with a $30.00 check. The address is Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., 20559-6000. You should receive a confirmation in about 5 to 6 months. Please note that the Copyright Office does not want two separate sheets of paper for the TX form. They require one sheet front and back. If you get the form from their site, it will print as two sheets. You'll need to re-photocopy them so they make one sheet, front and back. As far as your sit goes, you can send it in on a CD-ROM, but not on a floppy disc. After the original registration of all your pages you can update additional pages at a later time.
US. Copyright Office is an office of public record for copyright registration and deposit of copyright material. Download formTX
Some countries recognize a US. copyright and help with violators. Some don't. Titles, names, and logos are not protected under copyright. You'll need a trademark for that, you cannot trademark a word, just the design of the logo and the fact that the words represent your company. You can not use another’s image without written permission. Period. I can't be more clear on that.
Plagiarism, a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own from another web site, According to the Fair Use Doctrine (Section 110 (5) of the Copyright Act of 1976), it is allowable to use "limited portions" of a copyrighted item for works such as commentary, news reporting, academic reports, and the like. But you still have to give credit. You cannot claim the work as yours. You must cite where it came from. The tricky part is that there is no set number of words that equal "limited portions." It's a tough call. My suggestion is to be fair to the person with the copyright Don't post the whole site and give credit on only one page. I would fight someone posting a healthy portion of my site and only citing it once. I also believe, on the net, the cite should include a hypertext link. (That's not law).
There are limitations on Fair Use (17 USCS Sect. 107). Several factors will be taken into account, if you are attempting to make a profit, the nature of the work, the size of the portion you use, and the effect on the market place. The changes must be "substantial and creative." In effect, there may be very, very little lingering remnants of the original work. You might as well write it from scratch before trying to steal and alter. Editorial changes will just not cut it in a court of law. And speaking of the law...
What to do if someone uses your copyrighted stuff. If they did it without getting your permission, you can file a civil lawsuit in federal court to get an order stopping the person from using your material. A copyright attorney can get you started in the process. If the person has used your work and is attempting to make a profit with it, then the US. Attorney can get involved. As far as someone posting part of your web site without your permission, you can write or e-mail and asking that person to take the pages down and if that doesn't work, contact the administrator of their server and tell them to shut down the user's site, the entire site, or civil action will be brought against the server people for allowing copyrighted material to be pirated on their site. The next step would actually be to file a suit.
As far as your own content and protecting yourself and making sure nothing on your web site is someone else copyright, be original and create your own content or ask permission. Here are a few links for more copyright information: |
