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.
