how do i go about copyrighting a web site? i have 2 web sites i want to copyright and i have a idea for a site that might be very profitable. how do i copyright it to prevent others from stealing my idea?

thanks in advanced.

if it's yours and original you put (c) who , date , disclaimer on the bottom :)

if you want to *prove* you had it first try copying the site to cd, mailing it to yourself registered post, signing for itand neve opening it, then shoudl a court case ensue, you can prove when you first had the site.

if you want to stop people copying, dont put it up on the web, as making it publicly viewable amkes it sadly publicly takeable

or did you mean something entirely new and you want to patent your idea ?

i the "idea" i had:

i wanted to protect myself of the idea and no one can copy it. it was a idea for a online community and the idea behind it was a niche market and i wanted to keep my idea original so no one can take it and profit from it. i guess that would be practically impossible since there are so many sites and so little me. but i figure i would ask either way to see if it was possible.

so if there was someone after me who copied my idea, i could tell them to take the site down or i could go after them, legally. is this even possible?

for my other two site, i have the copyright on the site with the disclaimer so i guess thats good enough. thanks for the info. :D

Yes, you can go after them if they copy your copyrighted site. In the US you can send a registered letter to the stealing person's upstream hosting provider and let them know they are violating the DMCA (digital millieum copyright act). Usually you will see action when this is called.

Another option is to actually submit copies of your site to the US Copyright office (assuming again you are in the US or want some US protection). Last time I checked it was only around $35.00 for a submission and this puts into the public pretty definitatively who owns the copyright at a given moment in time.

you patent an idea/formula/invention - this gives you a legal framework for protection/royalties etc

you copyright a document/performance/design - you get some protection but its a much less cut&dried area

best advice - speak to a copyright/intellectual property lawyer

GoDaddy has a website copyrighting service, which basically keeps updating your site with the U.S. Copyright office. I think it's something like $49.95/year.