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WHAT IS A COPYRIGHT?
A copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of "original works of
authorship", including intellectual works and websites. The Copyright Act provides creators of expressive works,
such as websites, the exclusive right to control how the work is used. Generally the owner of a copyrighted
website has the exclusive right to authorize others to reproduce the work or distribute copies of the work to
the public. If people take logos, graphics, or word for word copy your website, they are violating the
Copyright Act.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT
There is no such thing as an "international copyright" that will automatically protect an author's work throughout
the entire world. However, most industrialized countries do offer protection to foreign works under certain international treaties and conventions.
The most important of these treaties is the Berne Convention. This treaty includes over 100 countries and states that copyright protection must be afforded to authors who are nationals of any member country.
WHY REGISTER YOUR WEBSITE WITH THE U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE?
As we pointed out under "Copyright" in our Protection Program, copyrighting your website is very important to keep violators from infringing on your hard work. Copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration. Among these advantages are the following:
- Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
- Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary.
- Registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.
- If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only awards of actual damages and profits are available to the copyright owner.
- Statutory damages are important because they represent dollar amounts that can be awarded without proving in court the actual loss of business or damages. In copyright disputes, actual damages are hard to prove.
- Attorney's fees in copyright cases can be considerable. It is important to get recovery of this money from the court.
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IMMEDIATE COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION OF YOUR WEBSITE
Please provide us with the following information and we will immediately register your website with the U.S. Copyright Office:
ORDER NOW -- ONLY $130.00
Pay By Credit Card
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