Website copyright and design advice

Issued: 7th July 2004

Last amended: 7th July 2004

Exploring website copyright, design ideas, registration advice and specific considerations that apply to website designers.

1. Copyright notices

   Although notices are not a requirement under the Berne Convention, (which states that copyright is automatic, whether you mark your work or not), it was a requirement of some countries covered under the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC). It is strongly recommended that you properly mark your work as the use of notices will make it clear that copyright exists, and help to deter infringement. Please see our fact sheet P-03: Using copyright notices for information on wording you notices.

   Websites are particularly open to abuse, especially theft of content and images. You should assume that files will be accessed randomly, downloaded as individual chunks, and distributed out of context. It is therefore important to include a copyright notice on as many individually deliverable items as possible:

   • Image file properties should include a notice.

     Under Windows for example, right clicking on a image will allow you to bring up the properties dialogue where you may enter details about the file, (though this will only work with certain file types). More typically, your image software will provide a way to insert comments into the file; this is preferred as these are harder to remove.

   • Every page should contain a notice in the visible text (text shown on screen), or at least link to your notice in the body of the page.
   • Every delivered file should include a notice in non visible text.

     For example, every page on our site includes the comment ‘<!-- Copyright (c) 2004 Copyright Witness Ltd; All Rights Reserved -->’ above the head tag.

   Watermarking may be worth considering if you have a lot of valuable images on your site.

2. Copyright registration

   Websites are one of the easiest things to copy, particularly any written content and images, but because of the often fluid nature of website design, deciding when to register can sometimes seem unclear.

   As a basic rule, the site should be as complete as possible, but it should be ideally be registered prior to online publication. If you are ble to do so, we advise registration before the site ‘goes live’ to ensure proof of content is available as early as possible.

   1. Registering your site

      If you are using Front Page, Dreamweaver or similar editing software, it is advisable to publish the website to a local folder on your system then use a copy of this folder to register the work, this will normally ensure that all files are included with the registration.

      For postal registrations, the best option is to send a copy of the entire site on a CD or floppy disk(s) along with the registration form.

      If you register using the online registration facility, then we recommend that you use an archiver such as WinZip, WinRar/Rar, 7-Zip, StuffIt, or Tar to combines all the files into a single archive file which you then upload during registration. This will ensure that the directory structure of the site is preserved.

   2. Dealing with updates

      The copyright registration update facility is used to register updates to your work. This enables you to include any new content in the registration, whilst still retaining the original registration date, and evidence of the original content of your work. Updates processed in this manner are linked with your existing registration, and protected from the date we process the application. This also provides additional evidence known as ‘evolution of ideas’ which demonstrates that your work has evolved and developed.

      Please note that updates can only used to add or update files in an item that has already been registered. Please use the standard registration facility for any new work.

      Registration updates are recommended where the site has significantly changed, or if there is new content, (i.e. you intend to publish an article which you believe will have commercial value on your site).

3. Design for third parties

   If you are design sites for others, you should also bear the following points in mind:

   1. Registration  
      • If the site is speculatively submitted, i.e. given to a client for approval before any formal contract has been signed, particularly if the client is unknown or not trusted, then registration should take place before the work is submitted to your client.

        This ensures that you have evidence of your work if the client decides not to go with your proposal, but then uses your work as a basis for a site they later develop. In this situation, it may be appropriate to offer to transfer the registration to the client once payment has been made, this ensures the client has evidence of the work from the earliest date to assist them in any future plagiarism or infringement claim.

      • If you feel you are adequately covered,(i.e. contracts are already in place with the client), then it is probably best to wait until the site is as complete as possible prior to registration. In this instance the client may be advised to register in their own regard, or you may register on their behalf upon completion and offer this as part of the service you provide.
   2. Assignment of rights

      If you develop web sites for others, as it is important for all parties to understand ownership.

      • Ensure that rights are granted as appropriate, this may mean that the copyright to the site is passed to the client upon payment, or in the case of work undertaken in stages, rights to individual features may be handed over for work completed to date.
      • Where material for the web site is sourced from elsewhere, or where third party technologies are to be used, appropriate licenses should be obtained.
      • Moral rights: Will the developer be credited for the work on the web site? If so, the developer will also want to reserve the right to remove the credit if the site if later developed in a way that would discredit the original developer.
4. Detecting infringement

   Copyscape is a useful tool that will compare your web pages to others indexed by Google and return any it finds with matching text.

5. Dealing with infringement

   If you notice another web site using your content, the best place to start is by reading our copyright infringement fact sheet

   It is a good idea to get a copy of the site as it exists at the time, this is useful if the site owner later changes their site in an attempt to disguise the infringement. Wget is a good tool for this and is available as free software under the GNU General Public License.

   Besides the points outlined in the copyright infringement fact sheet, in some countries the (such as the UK), the ISP (Internet Service Provider), may also have an obligation to uphold the law. An ISP that continues to host infringing material is knowingly permitting the infringement to continue and may therefore be liable.

   You would need to check that the ISP is covered by this legislation, (as it will vary due to differences in national laws), but this is often a good additional route to pursue, particularly if you have trouble contacting the domain owner, (we have seen occasions where domain records have been falsified to avoid tracing).

   If you need help tracing an domain owner, Uwhois.com provide a search facility that will display the contact details of the web domain owner.

This fact sheet is Copyright © Copyright Witness and protected under UK and international law. The use of this fact sheet is covered by the conditions of a Creative Commons licence. It is intended only as an introduction to ideas and concepts only. It should not be treated as a definitive guide, nor should it be considered to cover every area of concern, or be regarded as legal advice.