Your originial work is copyrighted the minute you write it. An aid to discouraging non intention theives is to add copyright.. date. All rights reserved to the article somewhere. Unfortunately nothing is going to stop an Internet thief from stealing it if they want to do so. You can enforce your rights when you identify a thief using a DCMA claim or by contacting the host of the thief. Good luck.
Thanks, You mean whenever I write a unique article and put a copyright mark on the bottom or elsewhere, I automatically considered as copyright owner of that article
Head over to Copyright.gov. If you want extra protection, you can register the work. It can be costly and it's probably not worth it unless the item(s) are professional and/or special. Technically, works are copyright the moment you create them (in the USA). However, proving that can be a burden if you don't have sources. You don't need to register, but doing so provides you additional remedies and provides ironclad documentation.
I completely agree with what marketjunction posted and if you search these forums you will find that many others agree with the two of us. The gottcha is you have to catch the bad guys after they steal it. DCMA makes it somewhat easier but it is still a lot of work. Not like the old days when some turkey started printing the book you wrote and selling it cheaper. Do note that both of us were speaking about US law.
While this might make you feel better, this has never been successfully used to prove copyright in a court of law. It does not give you any legal protection that you didn't have anyway. Here is the official word: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#poorman If you believe your work is worth full protection, go over to copyright.gov and spend the $45 to register it. Your work does not have to be registered for you to file a DMCA takedown notice if someone uses it on another web site without permission.
As the previous posters have indicated, when you create original work (text, code, art, photos, music, etc) you own copyright. Enforcement of copyright, though, is a costly, timeconsuming and continuing process, especially on the net.
Just fyi everyone, from a lawyer (me): The reason you register it at copyright.gov is that this registration becomes prima facie evidence (primary evidence) that you DO own the work. The burden then shifts to the infringer to prove it is NOT your work. In court, the first thing the judge will ask is Did you register your work? and if not, why not? If you didn't then it REALLY gets expensive, becasue you have to prove it's yours (mailing it to yourself won't count). By registering, that proof is assumed in your favor unless disproved by the alleged infringer (a much higher burden). So, the question is, is your work worth $45 to you? If that's "expensive", then it seems to me that someone else stealing/using it wouldn't be a great loss to you.
As far as I know, copyrighted material is expected to be removed immediately from the website of the copycat if copyright owner demands so. But getting compensation from the copycat for unlawful use of copyrighted material can be difficult. This legal loophole is what makes youtube so successful
Copyrighted material must be registered to have legal standing to sue. You will not be able to sue unless you have registered the material. If you sue, there are statutory damages. Defending a copyright suit can be expensive and difficult because it is like a strict liability offense in that generally speaking it doesn't matter if the person didn't think they were infringing. Therefore, infringers will often settle for the an amount that would represent their attorney fees and the likely statutory damages.
Not true. It just makes your job easier if you do. Copyright for articles, videos, photographs, etc, rests with the creator, regardless of any registration. It's just easier to prove a case if you have registered original material. Other proof, such as date of creation, is admissible evidence in court, so keep dated copies of your material. Really the cost of a court case is prohibitive regardless, and you always hope that a stern and threatening letter solves copyright infringement.
In the US, you do have to have the work registered to have standing to sue. That doesn't mean that you can't go to court without it, but what you can accomplish in court without the registration is basically the equivalent of a DCMA takedown notice (at the very best you could get the courts to start criminal proceedings, but they will only do this for major infringers usually). That might be different in Australia, but is true in the US (if the work originated in the US). In addition, if you register the copyright after three months of publication then you can only be awarded actual damages, not statutory damages.
The problem is that most people who steal from you will not be from your country. Then how do you stop them?
"The laws of almost all countries provide that protection is independent of any formalities, that is, copyright protection starts as soon as the work is created." You do no need the symbol or the phrase "All rights reserved" in order to protect an article from copyright infringement. These devices will discourage many, but they are not required. So as Colbit said at the beggining, you writing the article is enough, but thats not going to stop anyone from stealing it! How many people use the internet? There could be a chance someone might use it. I would do a search on copyscape every so often, or search in google, it will show up who has used your article on the net.
Yeah this is a difficult issue. other than to write a copywrite notice at the bottom of the article i also signed up for the premium copyscape service which alerts you instantly if somebody else is using your article somewhere else on the net. you can then go and see whether they are displaying it with your name on the bottom of it or theirs. if they are advertising it as their own, you then send them an email threatening pending legal action should they not remove the copywrited content immediately. if they do not remove it you inform their web host, all the search engines etc about them. once you threaten them that your going to do that if they dont comply, 9 times out of 10 they will remove it straight away. ive had to do this 9 times now with my articles. every time they have complied and removed my content.