I’m a stickler when it comes to copyright notices. It makes me cringe when I see a notice that’s not properly formatted. Why is this so important? Because if you should ever find yourself fighting to protect your copyrighted material in a lawsuit, you want to make sure you don’t give the dirty rotten scoundrel who stole your property a defense of “innocent infringement.”
“Oops. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to steal that material. I thought it was free for the taking.”
Even though your original works of authorship are automatically copyright protected in the United States, with or without a copyright notice, you take away the “innocent infringement” defense when you can point to a copyright notice that gives notice to any would-be infringer that the material is legally yours.
Although a copyright notice is not required by law (because your work is copyrighted the moment it is published), it can deter internet thieves, pirates, hoodlums… you know, the usual suspects… who might be tempted to steal your stuff.
Without a copyright notice, you’re giving the impression that you take little interest in covering your assets online.
When you give actual notice that the content on your website is copyright protected, you’ll likely scare off all but the most die-hard internet interlopers.
There are three types of copyright notice:
- Basic
- Advanced
- Registered
BASIC: Giving a basic notice that your work is copyright protected is quite simple, and it goes like this:
© 2018 Lin M. Eleoff, LLC
The copyright notice consists of three elements:
(1) the symbol © (the letter c in a circle), or the word “Copyright” and
(2) the year of first publication of the work and
(3) the name of the copyright owner.
Place the copyright notice in a prominent place on your website, preferably the footer. If your website content is constantly changing or being updated, change the year to include the range of years the copyright has been in effect. For example:
© 2012-2018 Lin M. Eleoff, LLC
ADVANCED: This type of notice gives more detailed information about the nature of the copyright and what is allowed or not allowed when it comes to the material in question. You’ll see this type of notice on the inside covers of books, in magazines, on videos, and in a website’s “Terms of Use” statement.
REGISTERED: You can also choose to register your work through the United States Copyright Office. This requires that you 1) complete an application form with the Copyright Office, 2) pay a nonrefundable filing fee, and 3) provide a nonreturnable “deposit” or a copy of the work being registered and “deposited” with the Copyright Office.
Need help getting your legal ducks (and docs) all in a row? Go HERE.