What You Should Know About Website Copyright

Copyright law is a form of intellectual property law which grants authors of original, creative work the exclusive rights to use, license, and sell the work without infringement from outside parties. Copyright protection can be used for any type of work, as long as it is considered to fall within the confines of a creative medium in which a clear message or intent can be established to exist. It protects ownership of artistic works such as poetry, novels movies, songs, computer programs, and architecture.

Websites are another form of artistic expression that have recently exploded in popularity. Due to the rapidly growing viewer ship of websites and number of people who have access to the internet, website copyright laws have been created for the greater convenience in protecting online creative works. For copyrighted websites, the author of a website is given full protection, including for all of the content that has been created with the intent of being placed on the website, including writings, artwork, photographs, and other forms of creative authorship.

Revisions and Updates to Websites

All creative work is protected under United States copyright law, though to proceed with legal matters, it is a good idea for authors of creative works to register their content with the United States Copyright Office. However, due to the nature of websites which have the capability to be constantly updated every day with new creative content, copyright website law becomes quite complicated. Each new revision to a website must be individually registered with the U.S. Copyright Office with a separate registration fee. The new registration for each revision only includes the information that has been added to that new version. There are exceptions to this rule.

Databases

For a website that contains a database for frequent updates, the owner may register all content that has been added to the database within the span of a three month period in one registration submission. This eliminates the hassle and spending of registering several times for several database updates. The three month period is limited, however, to one calendar year according to website copyright laws.

Serials and Newsletters

Group registration of copyrights is available for serials and newsletters which are published weekly or less and also for daily publications as well. This includes all serials and newsletters which are published online as well and are covered by website copyright laws. Depending on the type of work that is created, the requirements will vary slightly.

Can a Person Register Copyright for a Domain Name?

Website copyright laws do not include protection for domain names. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has taken the role of domain name system management and allows website authors to register domain names. This system is not regulated by the U.S. Copyright Office.

NEXT: Where Do I Get Permission to Copyright?