Copyright and the Internet

There seems to be a lot of confusions about copyright and the Internet. Copyright law itself is complicated, but with the Internet, where so many different me forms of media come together, the situation becomes even more complicated.

To help avoid problems with copyright, there are several things you should be aware of:

Just because a site does not have a copyright symbol (©) on the bottom of the page does not mean the information on the site is not copyrighted. In fact, just about everything on the Internet is copyrighted. Text, pictures, even the design of a site are considered copyrighted. Do not copy and paste text from other sites, or use pictures from other sites, because doing so can make you subject to a potential lawsuit and fines.

Make sure you have permission before you use anything from other sites or sources. Even Wikipedia has restrictions about using the text from their site.

The safest way to make sure you are protected is to create your own text and use your own pictures. This not only protects you from any copyright issues, it also gives you unique content for your site that can be targeted specifically to your customer base.

For more information, please visit http://www.hitwebdesign.com or call 1-866-211-0743.