Copyrighting

Hi all. I am new to this forum/site, but I signed up as soon as I stumbled upon it and took a quick look around -- this is a great resource/community!

Here is my question: what is the quickest/easiest/cheapest way to copyright digital images and websites? ... And what is the BEST way, if different?

I want to put some of my work on my website, but I also want to protect it. I know that copyrighing will not stop some people from stealing it, but it's a start.

Thanks for any advice.

Well first of all you posted in the wrong section...

And about the copyrighting thing... i believe there is something called a poor mans copyright... like you print the image, put it in an envelope and then send it to yourself.. when it goes to the post office they date it, thus creating a copyright date... then you just get the envelope back and dont open it... it will hold up in court too... i believe...

lol, excuse what i'm about to say, but, that's ghetto as hell. haha, that's the first thing that went through my mind when i read that.

Doesnt work anymore (for court purposes). You have to have to pay for copyright if you want to hold it up in court if you plan on suing for infringement. But theoretically what is yours is copyrighted the moment you create it. I wish I could find something on copyright using registered mail.
But if you want your sighting of Elvis copyrighted here is the FAQ's:
http://www.copyright.gov/faq.html#q58

They have also changed the laws regarding sampling. If a duplication facility dupes music that contains copyrighted samples then they can be taken to court. Copyrighting is getting a bit more harsh, but more protective of the artist or creator.

I am not a lawyer or anything, but we deal with copyrighting for bands at work. And a few of these topics have come up before.


Haha! (edit) that is pretty ghetto! Well that was the easiest way for bands to copyright their material. You go to the PO, get it registered and mail it to yourself, and don't open it. Just cost you a few dollars and it had a legally binding date stamped on it, if anyone ever stole your music, then you had something that would hold up in court.

just pay for the copyright if you are really worried that much... only real way to have it 100% secure

When someone rips from me, I see it as a way to brand your name into the person. "Hi, I have an image created by another person because I like to get branded in my hindquarters like a bovine. Look, it says 'mo0chan owns me on my ass.'" -_-;

// End rambling.

Or...you could embed your images ina flash movie, or get a script from www.dhtmlcentral.com which does not let the user right click your image. But then, they could always take a photo of their screen...but the above is a good start for now.

or they can view the source and look for the code for the image.

Thanks for the links and ideas (I loved the Elvis bit ). Yes, I know that I cannot absolutely protect my images if I choose to display them on the web. And yet, $30 a pop is sure a lot -- no wonder there are so many starving artists! I think I will have to give that html "right click blocker" script a try to start with.

the right click block scripts dont work, i dont steal images but when including artwork from famous artists in my essays for art lessons, i've come across them before, users can get the right click working if you click both mouse buttons at the same time and play around with it for a while, just a point...

-edit-
slicing all your images up at critical points is a good idea actually....