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Originally Posted by fallnangelzbld
So basically guys the copyright priveledge can be used for ANYTHING you create that is tangible. If you wish to be able to sue others for infringement of your work, though... you have to register. BTW... the "poor man's copyright" where you send the letter to yourself...doesn't stand up in court... so says the website ... lol  |
Actually, I learned about the copyright laws from a songwriter who'd been burned when a band stole one of his songs, then told him, "So sue us!" He said that the most effective tactic is to publicize, advertise, and promote your work as yours. Hey, if "everybody" knows it's yours, anyone trying to steal it will look like a fool. Imagine some little-known person born in 1985 claiming he or she wrote "Yellow Submarine!"
One misuse of a website is fraud. I've been getting e-mails from someone mimicking Earthlink, my ISP, in which I'm sent threatening messages saying that if I don't send in my credit card info, I'll lose my Earthlink service. The messages use Earthlink colors, and appear to use genuine Earthlink web links. If Earthlink ever finds out who's doing it, assuming the culprit is in the U.S., the case will go far beyond copyright infringement. No doubt a LOOONG federal prison sentence will be imposed.
In another case I know of, the enemies of a controversial organization put up a website using a domain name similar to the organization's, then loaded it with verbal attacks against the organization. The only difference between the domain names was that one used hyphens between the words, and the other didn't. Anyone using a search engine to find the organization would have turned up both domain names, and wouldn't have known which one was genuine. The organization sued their attackers, and won.