by Mark Monlux, markmonlux.com
Dear Mark,
I design a lot of websites, I want to protect them for both my clients and myself. Can they be copyrighted?Signed,
Wondering Webmaster
.
_________________________________________________________________
.
Dear
Wondering Webmaster,
Yes!
I found the answer to your
question at www.copyright.gov under
the Frequently Asked Questions
section.
It
says:
The
original authorship appearing
on a website may be protected
by copyright. This includes writings,
artwork, photographs, and other
forms of authorship protected
by copyright. Procedures for
registering the contents of a
website may be found in Circular
66, Copyright Registration for
Online Works.
You can find Circular 66 along with easy to copyright forms in pdf format at the copyright website. There are six basic form groups and they are:
Literary Works
Visual Arts Works
Performing Art Works
Sound Recording
Serials and Periodicals
Mask Works
Online work falls under Literary Works (Form TX or Short Form TX). However, photographs and graphics fall under Visual Arts (VA Form). It is $30 for each form. And, no, you cannot use one form for both. A pain, but it is, because each group is covered by different copyright laws and regulations.
This is why each and every creative content provider should always file for copyright. It can come in handy. Say you publish a magazine and someone swipes an article from your publication (assuming it is not for Fair Use) and uses not only the text, but the photo and graphic which accompanied it.
Well, whoever infringed is then facing multiple copyright violations. One lawsuit from you for serials and publication, one from the writer for literary work, and two from the photographer, and illustrator for visual arts. The lot of you could go into a class action suit against the fellow.
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