
Ask HN: Is there any reason to display "Copyright © 20xx" on websites? - aroman
A lot of websites, including some of my own, put that notice in the footer.<p>I do it just because everyone else does — but is there any actual advantage at all to doing so, or is it just &quot;decorative&quot;?
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patio11
Fences make great neighbors, and while you don't legally need a copyright
notice in the US for most purposes, putting one on there is a cheap investment
in preventing accidental casual infringement and lets you skip the "Whoops I
didn't realize copying that would be infringing" stage of the "Please knock
that off" conversation.

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jcutrell
There are some advantages to adding the copyright, but none of them are
legal... sort of.

The way copyright law works isn't black and white - it's more like a harsh
linear gradient where there is a lot of space of black and a lot of space of
white, but a sliding scale between.

When you put the copyright explicitly on your site, you are making a statement
- that the contents of the site are, indeed, unmistakably copyrighted and
should not be reused without proper permissions (or at all, in most cases).

While you receive copyright implicitly by law in the US, the severity of
possible legal action is partially dependent on what a judge says makes sense.
For instance, one could easily (albeit ignorantly) make the accident that
something on GitHub isn't copyrighted because GitHub hosts a ton of open
source stuff. If the copyright is explicitly stated, for a person to copy it
would portray a gross disregard, and lack of responsibility and due diligence.

So, yes, there are good reasons to place a copyright symbol, but it doesn't
necessarily change your copyright status by law.

~~~
dragonwriter
> For instance, one could easily (albeit ignorantly) make the accident that
> something on GitHub isn't copyrighted because GitHub hosts a ton of open
> source stuff.

"Open source" stuff is copyrighted. The only thing, in US law, that is not
copyrighted is material that is either (a) not of the type of material subject
to copyright, or (b) for which the copyright has expired, or (c) produced by
the US government.

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krrishd
These days I see a lot of "Made with <3 in {{location}} " instead, so maybe
its declining due to a lack of real use?

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aroman
In fact that's what I've been using for my recent projects (e.g. things made
at hackathons) — not sure which message (if any) I'd stick in the footer of a
proper new website.

~~~
krrishd
I've been doing both, although in hindsight it would be better to stick to
one. Personally, since the copyright has very little legal implications (from
what I know), you might as well just do the "Made with <3 in..." thing IMHO.

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nfoz
Why do you even want to reserve the copyright for your webpage's contents? Do
you really care if people copy some of the text or source formatting of the
site?

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t0
I find it useful to know if the site is updated regularly.

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amarcus
The copyright year is generally when the work was first published. Even if the
site is updated regularly the copyright notice should still stay the same. For
example, I launched my website in 2009 and while it does get updated on a
weekly basis, the copyright still says 2009.

~~~
aaron695
I rate a sites age/last updated (And hence how useful it is) via the
copyright, if it says 2009 I'll move on. I suspect may other people also do.

Unless you are in a strange place were there are legal issues, I'd keep it up
to date, preferably with a dynamic year.

If you have legal issues, I'd add in a dynamic 'last updated' or range.

~~~
glomph
Are you serious?

~~~
caw
I bet they are. I do it too, particularly if you're looking for something that
has changed since a certain date. An explanation of a math technique probably
hasn't changed since whenever it was posted, but if I'm looking for reviews on
laptops, I don't want laptops from 2009.

I realize that date of publication of the particular article can be different
from date of most recent publication, so I don't immediately throw out the
site, but if it looks dormant I may leave and go to another site.

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mattwritescode
If you put Copyright at the bottom of your website then it means no one will
ever copy your content obviously.

:P

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dylandrop
Well first off, if you don't have a copyright (which it doesn't sound like you
do) - no, there's no purpose. A copyright is actual legal material which you
have to apply for, just like a patent
([http://www.copyright.gov/forms/](http://www.copyright.gov/forms/)). However
whether this is worth it or not depends on the nature of what you're putting
up online.

Now about the copyright symbol itself:

[http://inventors.about.com/od/copyrights/a/CopyrightNotice.h...](http://inventors.about.com/od/copyrights/a/CopyrightNotice.htm)

"A copyright notice or copyright symbol is an identifier placed on copies of
the work to inform the world of copyright ownership. While use of a copyright
notice was once required as a condition of copyright protection, it is now
optional. Use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the copyright
owner and does not require advance permission from, or registration with the
Copyright Office."

"... in the event that a work is infringed, if a proper notice of copyright
appears on the published copy or copies to which a defendant in a copyright
infringement suit had access, then no weight shall be given to such a
defendant's defense based on innocent infringement."

~~~
basch
you do not need to apply for a copyright. you apply for papers to make
lawsuits easier. they provide you with documented and notarized dates and
actions.

~~~
rbritton
And more worthwhile. Having a registered copyright allows you to potentially
collect punitive damages with a successful lawsuit rather than just the actual
market value of the usage.

