View Full Version : copyright question
can i just say Copyright (c) 2002 StoverPlatinum.com on all my pages? does this mean anything at all if i never went through the government and filled out some copyright forms or whatever you're supposed to do? if it doesn't mean anything then can i just leave it up so i can be like Yahoo! and those other big websites?
Yup, you can be just like the big boys :D
Even if you don't file papers or have the copyright included on the site.. your content is still your property and you do have legal rights concerning that content.
That said, it is best to have a copyright notice on your pages stating that the content contained there is your property and not to be used without your permission.
Just my "For What It's Worth"
Yes - there is no requirement to register copyrighted material with the government. Your notice should use the © symbol (© in HTML) rather than (C), which carries no legal meaning in some countries. Technically, you can use just © or just the word Copyright, but it does no harm to use both.
In fact, there is, legally, no requirement for you to even include a notice - material automatically gains copyright status when it is published. However, the notice serves to alert the reader to the status and names the owner, which is helpful. I might suggest that, unless StoverPlatinum.com is the name of your business, you use your business name (or your name) instead, since the notice is supposed to name the "owner".
I'll take this opportunity to put in a plug for my favorite book on web site design, as it also covers many areas such as this related to building a professional/commercial site. But most of the information is also very applicable to non-commercial sites as well - I'll specifically note his section on putting music on web pages.
The book is "Son of Web Pages That Suck", by Vincent Flanders. Not only is it wittily written and an entertaining read, it is also crammed full of some of the most useful advice on what to do (and what not to do) on a web site I have ever run across. Visit the web site (http://webpagesthatsuck.com/) for more information (and a sample chapter). (I have no connection with the author other than being someone who loves his book and recommends it to everyone!)
sweet that is definately something i did not know. now about the name for it... since there is no business should i just put
All files on StoverPlatinum.com and StoverPlatinumFiles.com are Copyright (c) [by that i meant the circly dealio] 2002 Brad Yates. All rights reserved.
does that look good?
i just wanted to test this thing out to. so if i put © it should be the circly copyright (please o please).
holy crap that's amazing. i didn't that this thing recognized special characters. i'm so happy.
According to a few articles that I've read by copyright attorneys (if you trust lawyers), the "proper" way to put the copyright on would be
Copyright ©2002 yourname (or yourdomain.com)
Also, if the site has been around for a few years, then you'd want to state it this way
Copyright ©1999-2002 yourname...etc etc etc
Just my "For What It's Worth"©2002 :D
The "All rights reserved" can be removed - it was popular for a while but doesn't add any protections for you. Otherwise, fine.
It was a bit of a surprise to me that the forum software allowed © to turn into © - but it does... Be sure to use © in your HTML - most HTML editors will do this by default. You don't want the 8-bit character in your HTML text.
As for the year ranges - there's some disagreement on this. The latest advice I've had is that just the current year is fine, but it doesn't hurt if you want to give a range.
ok thanks guys, now that i know how to format it, i can finally add the copyright to all my pages. :cool: oh ya... very cool.
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