Shoutbox

On websites i see they have 'copy right' down the bottom. My question is do you need to register a copy right or can you just put copy right down the bottom and if anyone uses your work you can sue them? if you do need to register a copy right where do you need to go?


Thanks in advance.

in australia, no, you just have to put:

Copyright <year> <your name>

and it's yours

Copyright is an automatic protection and you do not need to register for it. Although, other things such as patents etc you do need to register for .


So i don't even think you need to put "copyright" on your pages? They should be automatically protected under copyright law.

wow thats good, is it the same with a trademark?

I was also going to ask this question for a couple of my websites, ive seen stuff taken under my copyright i didnt know if i could do anything about it

Also see:
Wikipedia on copyright
Wikipedia on trademarks

Trademarks can be obtained in two different ways... by use or by registration. A registered trademark however give you more rights. But afaik trademarks can only be used by companies. But read the Wikipedia article for full info.

Trademarks generally have to be registered.
Ideas can be marked with 'patent pending' a patent is a kind of copyright on your idea or product.