Copyright laws and your small business website

The Internet is largest threat to copyright since it began. The Internet, by design, shares information, much of it protected by copyright. Everything from news stories, software, novels, screenplays, graphics, and pictures can be copyrighted.
When you decide to create your own website or design a website for others, learn about the laws that you must abide by.

Three things to consider when evaluating the legality of content you post or provide access to are:
1.    Current copyright law
2.    Fair Use
3.    Public Domain
1. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
On October 12, 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This act encompasses many forms of protection for Intellectual property, ranging from circumvention of anti-piracy measures to providing provisions to facilitate distance education. The link below will explain in more detail what the current copyright laws encompass.

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm

2. The Fair Use provision and the four factors to be considered in a fair use analysis were dramatically fleshed out in the 2 Live Crew case. Here, we look at the fair use provision and the four factors to be used in making a determination of fair use.
1.    The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2.     The nature of the copyrighted work;
3.     The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
4.    The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work
The Public Domain is that repository of all works that for whatever reason are not protected by copyright. As such, they are free for all to use without permission. Works in the Public Domain include works with the following characteristics:
1.    Originally Non-copyrightable
These are items that by their very nature are not eligible for copyright protection. These items include: ideas, facts, titles, names, short phrases, and blank forms.

2.    Lost Copyright
The public domain contains all works which previously had copyright protection, but which subsequently lost that protection due to pilot error. For example, all works published before January 1, 1978 that did not contain a valid copyright notice may be considered to be in the public domain.
2.    Works Granted to Public Domain
Copyrightable works may also enter the public domain if the copyright owner grants the work to the public domain.

http://www.benedict.com/Info/Info.aspx

To ensure that your content does not infringe on copyright law, do it yourself!
The best ways to ensure that the content on your website is original is to: create the yourself, ask permission to use the content, cite the resource or purchase the rights to use the content.
Here are some sources I use to ensure that content for my websites are original:

http://www.godaddy.com/

If you are looking to create an original name for your website or company, type the desired name into the domain search feature, if the domain name is available, buy it.  You now own the domain name and have rights to that domain on the Internet.

http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php

iStockphoto has all sorts of photos or images for as little as $1.00 a piece. Images can greatly enhance the professionalism and interest of your website.

http://tech.yahoo.com/qg/quick-guide-to-digital-cameras/digital_cameras

If you don’t already own a digital camera or your phone doesn’t have one, go here and pick a camera that is right for you.  Create your own images. It’s fun, it’s creative and it is original.
If you do find content or images on other websites you can always link to that website. Go to

http://www.ehow.com/how_4443919_exchange-links-other-websites.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art to learn how to exchange links with other sites.

If you are still unsure how to create an original website, find a reputable marketing agency like Big Black Pencil in Chicago and you can be sure that your content is original, findable and marketable.