The new year is a great time to take a second look at your website copyright protection. Image: Flickr / kalexanderson / CC-BY-SA
Copyright law is intended to protect the creators of all types of content from plagiarism and unauthorized use. Though a copyright notice is not required for protection, making sure you have proper copyright notices is always a good task for the new year.
Deciding on your copyright
Since 1978, any piece of original work can be protected by copyright, even if there is no copyright notice on the work. However, a copyright notice on your website or blog will provide an extra layer of protection. Pure U.S. copyright does not allow remixing, re-posting, or any use other than defined “fair use.” Creative Commons copyright allows for a more defined, permissive copyright that opens the work up for a particular kind of use with a particular kind of credit. First, decide what kind of copyright protection you want for your work.
Post a copyright notice
Once you have confirmed what kind of copyright protection you want on your work, post that notice. Putting the copyright notice in the footer of your website can be done with a single line of code, either text that simply reads “Copyright (year started) to (current year)” or with a footer plugin on WordPress. You should also have a copyright page on your site, either built into the terms of service or separate, that outlines exactly what permissions and requirements you have for the content on your site.
Enforcing your copyright
Even if you have a copyright notice on your website, you will have to ferret out and follow up on copyright violations on your own. Copyright law does not automatically prosecute violators. It is your decision how carefully you want to follow up with looking for violations. If you do find infringement and want to request the violating post or page be removed, try contacting the website owner first, then the host, then the domain name registrar. If all else fails, contact the advertisers on the offending website and inform them of the copyright violation.
Keep authority in mind
Having your work quoted is not necessarily something you want to chase down and stop. Keep in mind that search engines consider quoted work to be an indicator of authority. It is often best to request a link and a credit for work that has been quoted, rather than requesting it be removed.
