CAN I COPYRIGHT MY WEBSITE? by ResearchCopyright.com

Like most other works, a website receives automatic copyright protection as soon as it is created in a tangible format. The work that appears on a website may include text, art, photographs, video, and other works that are all protected by copyright, either as a web page or by itself.

Copyright does not protect ideas, procedures, systems, or methods of operation. Registering content is not required, but is often used by people to protect themselves against possible litigation by having the Copyright Office issue a notice of Copyright for the work in question.

When registering a website, the registration will extend only to that material that is received in the Copyright Office as part of the registration package.

Typically, websites are not static entities, they are routinely revised, edited, and updated. Each revision must be registered individually, by itself, with its own filing fee. The deposited work should be the same version as the revision.

If the work is an automated database, consisting of a group of updates, published or unpublished, covering a three month period can be combined into a single registration.

Serials and newsletters can be registered together as a group depending on the type of work (whether it is published online or not or daily or weekly). This is only an option if the items are a "collective work" so it would not be viable for articles published one at a time as that would not constitute a collective work.

The U.S. Copyright Office makes it easy to register a copyright in the United States for your creative work. You can complete an application with the following information:

1. The completed application form.

2. The filing fee.

3. A non-returnable deposit of the work being registered (A copy of the work as an upload to the Copyright website, a CD-ROM, or hard copy of the material)

Once you file and register your work, it becomes active and effective on the day the Copyright Office receives the three items, no matter how long the Copyright Office needs to process the work and mail you the certificate of registration. When registering a copyright for Visual Arts, you have three options available:

1. Online Registration.

2. Registration With Fill-In Form CO.

3. Registration With paper Forms.

Information for all three filing methods can be found at www.copyright.gov/eco/.="#_blank">

1. Online Registration:

Filing online offers several advantages over the other two filing methods, mainly a lower filing fee, faster processing time, the ability to track the process of the filing online, and the ability to pay via credit or debit card, as well as electronic check.

If you use this route, you still have to mail in a non-returnable deposit of the work being copyrighted if it's already published, you can also opt to submit an electronic version of the work. As of this writing, the fee for using this option is $35.

2. Registration With Fill-In Form CO:

This method of registration is a combination of the first method and the third method. Visit the Copyright Office website and obtain the form CO from the forms page. This form contains a barcode that is readable by the Copyright Office. Complete this form on a PC, print it out, and mail it in, along with a check for $50 (the fee for form CO at press time) and mail them in along with the non-returnable deposit of the work. If the CO form is damaged in any way and is unreadable at the Copyright Office, the normal paper filing fee of $65 will be levied on this registration.

Do not reuse the same CO form for other registrations as each instance of the form contains a unique barcode for that registration. If you reuse it, even though the text on the page might be different, the barcode would be the same barcode generated for the original filing.

3. Registration With Paper Forms:

The forms needed to register a work with paper forms are not available on the website, but must be sent by postal mail upon request. Of all of the types of registration, this is the most expensive at $65. Payable by check.

The address to send paper applications and hard copy deposits to the Library of Congress' Copyright Office is as follows:

Library of Congress

U.S. Copyright Office

101 Independence Avenue SE

Washington, DC 20559-****

Replace the four *s in the postcode to the right number listed below so it is routed to the correct branch of the Copyright Office. If you are sending your hard copy deposit, make sure to include a letter detailing the specific information needed so the office knows what to do with your deposit.

6222 for literary work

6211 for visual arts work

6233 for performing arts work

6238 for motion picture or other audiovisual work

6237 for sound recording

6226 for single serial issue

Once you have filed (or before you have filed) the paperwork with the Copyright Office, you should place the following three elements:

2. Provide the year of first publication. If the work is a compilation of previously published material, you can use the year of the compilation.

3. The name of the copyright owner.

This is for "visually perceptible copies"—for sound recordings, the © symbol is not used, instead the letter P in a circle is used to denote sound recordings.

Any works created in the United States after January 1, 1978, the copyright lasts for the author's life plus 70 years. For works made for hire, anonymous, and pseudonymous works (unless the real author's identity is listed in the Copyright Office's records) the copyright duration is 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of the work was created, whichever comes first.