09/18/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/18/2024 05:01
Published: September 18, 2024
Last month, I finally started building my writing portfolio website. And then it hit me: I had no clue about website copyright, yet it seemed important for someone publishing original content online.
Determined to figure it out, I spent several days researching, consulting the community, and exploring official resources. The whole process was getting quite confusing, so I documented every step.
In this quick guide, I'll share everything I learned about website copyright and answer all the questions that I first had to ask myself.
Table of Contents
I was surprised to learn that websites themselves aren't typically considered copyrightable works. Instead, it's the content on the website that's protected.
So, website copyright is the legal protection of the original content found on a website. This can include:
77 Brilliant Examples of Homepages, Blogs & Landing Pages to Inspire You
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Good question. The original content you publish on your website is automatically protected by copyright as soon as you create it. This applies to users in most countries.
You don't need to do anything special to get this basic protection.
However, you can register your website content with the U.S. Copyright Office for extra security. Here's why this might be useful:
As it still wasn't clear whether I needed to copyright my website or not, I dug deeper.
Turns out, registering with the U.S. Copyright Office makes the most sense for:
My takeaway on this?
Not everyone needs to officially copyright their website after creating it, as it gets protected automatically. However, it might come in handy as your website grows - especially if you publish important original content.
As we already established, as soon as you have your text and visual content published on your website, the copyright law is activated. Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is voluntary, but it could bring you extra protection and benefits if it comes to legal disputes.
In case you decide to proceed, here's when you should do it:
And here's the caveat.
You don't need to register each time you publish new content. But each new content piece you add after registration is not automatically protected by your existing registered copyright.
So, the best approach might be to periodically register new content in batches. For instance, once or twice a year.
The automatic copyright is free, of course.
If you decide to register with the U.S. Copyright Office, you'll need to pay a fee depending on your needs.
There are more pricing options depending on your needs. You can check the full list here.
Let's walk through the process of copyrighting your website. I'll explain each step in detail based on what I learned during my research.
Start by adding a copyright notice to your website. Placing it on a copyrighted work informs users of the copyright protection.
While it's not legally required in the U.S. anymore, it's a good practice because it translates your claim of ownership in a more visible manner, and it further protects you in the case of disputes.
Here's what to include:
For example: Copyright © 2024 My Brand. All rights reserved.
Put this in your website's footer so it shows up on every page. Here's what it looks like on HubSpot's site:
The easiest way to approach this is by writing the copyright symbol in HTML. It ensures that your copyright badge will fit your site's responsive design for different screen types.
Remember, your work is actually protected by copyright as soon as you create it. But registering with the Copyright Office gives you extra protection - especially if you ever need to sue someone for copying your work.
Try answering these questions:
If you answered "yes" to one or more of these questions, you might want to consider registering your website copyright.
If you decide to proceed, start by gathering all the original website content you want to protect.
This could include:
It's a good idea to build an organized content inventory for easier access. Make a list of all the elements you're including in your copyright application and categorize them, noting where each of them appears on your site.
Here's what it might look like.
Now you're finally ready to file your application. Here are the main steps you need to take.
This is where you can file your application.
For most websites, you'll likely use the "Standard Application." However, if you're registering multiple unpublished works (up to 10), you must use the "Group of Unpublished Works" application.
You'll need to provide:
Check out the full list of requirements and FAQs here.
Remember, you're not copyrighting your "website" as a whole, but specific content on it.
For example, here are the main content types the form mentions:
Your website, blog articles, and other written materials would fall under Literary Form, while photographs, illustrations, and graphic designs fall under Visual Form.
Bonus tip: Check these video tutorials for each application type.
Once you're done filling out your application, review it and click "Checkout."
From here, you can pay the filing fee.
As of my last check, fees were:
You can pay by credit card, debit card, electronic check, or Copyright Office deposit account.
Finally, it's time to submit the website content you want to copyright. Note that the Copyright Office prefers electronic submissions when possible. Here's what you need to know:
Bonus tip: Check out this detailed guidance on uploading your work.
After submitting your copyright application, expect an average processing time of 2.1 months. Online submissions typically take just over one month. Not too bad!
However, if the Copyright Office needs to correspond with you about your application, it may double the processing time.
Note: You can also check your application status while waiting.
Just like me, you'll probably keep adding new content to your site. Make sure to log when those additions happen and plan to periodically submit your new pages in batches.
It's also a good idea to regularly check for unauthorized use of your content.
For example, you might use reverse image search tools like Google Images, set up Google Alerts for unique phrases from your written content, or use plagiarism detection tools.
If you find someone using your content without permission, look into the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). It provides a legal framework that lets you request the removal of your copyrighted content from other websites.
The website copyright process wasn't as straightforward as I expected.
On one hand, your content is protected from the moment you publish it.
On the other hand, you can also add a website copyright footer to your site as an extra step - or take it all the way to the U.S. Copyright Office for additional legal protection.
Is registration necessary for everyone? Not really. However, after conducting all this research, I think I will consider registering my own site, since my portfolio has a lot of valuable, original content.
77 Brilliant Examples of Homepages, Blogs & Landing Pages to Inspire You
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