Online copyright - how to protect yours and use other people's.

Intro.

In this article you'll find out how to protect your online copyright and use other people's.

How to protect YOUR copyright.

Although the '©' sign or the term 'Copyright yoursitename.com' is legally enough warning, you can protect your website with a simple 'No Right Click' javascript.

A slice of techy code added to your site, the script disables the right button of a mouse and therefore offers basic protection from image theft, however, this is no match for a veteran Internet thief and could annoy people who use 'tabs' such as those found on the browsers Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer7.

Other methods to protect your online images.

There are methods other than the 'No Right Click' script that can help to protect your copyright. In the case of images we have a few choices including adding a watermark, however, this is rarely used as it is so obtrusive. A more recent method of protecting your images involves some professional coding that basically puts your image behind another (useless) image. The image on top is transparent and will be the only image saved if someone tries to right click 'Save As'; this is the method we used to protect our images on our own Home Page.

Finding and using copyrighted content.

Images, text, software, video - no matter what form it takes, there are laws that stop others using or redistributing a work without permission.

In the case of photography, buying images does not necessarily make them yours. Sites such as BigStockPhoto.com and Fotolia.com give only a 'limited license' which allows the use of the photo on your website, business card or other creative work but does not give you the right to resell or otherwise redistribute the photo.

At no time can you legally take content from another website without express permission. 'Google Images' and 'Save As' are both hot-points as they seem to offer a free and easy way of grabbing images and text but without having asked express permission, reproducing them in any way will mean you are plain and simply breaking the law. Even a sentence such as 'image from whateversite.com' is not enough. You need permission!

Often a nice copyright request to the person who owns the file you want to use is all it takes.

Here is an example of a copyright request:

' Dear Namehere, I, your name , am writing on behalf of www.yoursite.com to request your kind permission to use name of what you want as seen at the internet address of the website where the file resides . I have attached a copy of the exact information we wish to use. If this meets your approval, kindly complete the release below and indicate the credit line that you would like us to display.

The undersigned authorizes www.yoursite.com to use the attached material on your website address in perpetuity:

Signature:

Print name:

Title:

Company name:

Company address:

Contact details:

Credit line: '

A 'credit line' is a brief sentence such as 'photograph shown courtesy of whoever.com'. You must have a signature, so offering a method for the owner to Fax you is recommended. If you do not have a fax or even a fax machine, visit 'Faxtastic' (link below) and set up your own FREE fax-to-email account.

Cease and desist.

A 'cease and desist' is most commonly a letter sent to the Internet Service Provider of the offending website (the people who supply the website's hosting) but can be sent to the website owner directly by email or snail mail.

You can find the details of the offending website by making a search in the 'WhoIs'.

The letter is used to assert a legal right such as copyright and trademark violation and commonly includes a 'threat' to take Court action. It's main use is to demand the removal of an item you believe is your copyright (such as an article or image etc).

Although it is within your rights to sue for a proven case of copyright violation, a 'cease and desist' letter is usually enough to stop the thief in their tracks.

A good example of a cease and desist letter is that shown below.

' Dear [name]:

It has come to my attention that you have made an unauthorized use of my copyrighted work entitled [name of work] (the "Work") in the preparation of a work derived therefrom. I have reserved all rights in the Work, first published in [date], [and have registered copyright therein]. Your work entitled [name of infringing work] is essentially identical to the Work and clearly used the Work as its basis. [Give a few examples that illustrate direct copying.]

As you neither asked for nor received permission to use the Work as the basis for [name of infringing work] nor to make or distribute copies, including electronic copies, of same, I believe you have willfully infringed my rights under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 as set forth in Section 504(c)(2) therein.

I demand that you immediately cease the use and distribution of all infringing works derived from the Work, and all copies, including electronic copies, of same, that you deliver to me, if applicable, all unused, undistributed copies of same, or destroy such copies immediately and that you desist from this or any other infringement of my rights in the future. If I have not received an affirmative response from you by [date give them about 2 weeks] indicating that you have fully complied with these requirements, I shall take further action against you.

Very truly yours '

I hope you enjoyed this article!