Hi, I want to find out if a can take a copyright for my website even if I am a private person and not a company?
Yes, anybody can apply for a copyright from the U.S. Library of Congress just by filling out their form and paying the fee. Here's some info from their website: "Form TX (literary works); Form VA (visual arts works); Form PA (performing arts works, including motion pictures); Form SR (sound recordings)" Form TX is the one to use for copyrighting websites and I know this because I have copyrighted websites with the Library of Congress. I am not an attorney but it is my understanding that when a person or a company copyrights a website, they are only establishing proof of first copyright and not necessarily proof of ownership in court. What may be enforceable under copyright in a court of law is the text content, the images and sound files that are on the copyrighted website. The website format and the programming codes are not covered by the TX copyright. Original code programming for an Internet device is more appropriately covered under a patent.
You will not get the right info over in this forum.you should consult a legal person if you are serious about it.
Of course you can copyright a forum. But, is actual registration of this copyright necessary? No. At least not for signatories of the Boern Convention. Notice of copyright is not required, and the work is copyrighted the moment it is created.
Z3nit, it seems that you are from UK, aren´t you ? Then the concept of copyright there in UK is quite different from what was said by Capistrano.. Btw, Capistrano: yes, the registration procedure you described is typical for US. But I´m pretty much convinced that even there in US you have also a national legislation saying something like the following: (1) Copyright law arises to author´s work once the author´s work is expressed in a tangible medium of expression . This follows from the Berne Convention which says that registration of copyright rights cannot be a prerequisite of the copyright protection; (2) The registration of the copyright as Capistrano described shall ensure that the author´s copyright rights will be enforceble in the furure. Back to Z3nit: as far as I know, in UK there is anything similar to registration of copyright rights. There in UK and and over the rest of EU we do not need to register copyright rights at all. Once you create something which might be considered a work of authorship you are entitled to a copyright protection to the said work. You do not need to register it, do not need to have there the magic words "Copyright YYYY XXXX". And finally: the copyright rights are given principally to the natural persons (private persons), not to the corporate entities. Mika discl.: the above is not legal analysis of the indicated issue, just few thoughts of mine expressed herein : )