Have you ever wondered what copyright is? What it means to you as an Internet user? What copyright covers and what it might protect? How it might go into effect? And if you are violating any ones copyrighted property? Have you ever copy any ones else source for your own use when built a web page for your own personal computer, or for any purpose for that matter. Have you ever copied a GIF or JPEG files to show on your own page? Is this a violation of someone's copyright? If so, what can you be held accountable for? Does anyone really care? These are some questions that come to my mind when I think of copyright and I found some answers. I hope the following might answer any questions you might have about copyright, if not please visit the copyright links I have gathered, maybe they will.
 

     Copyright has two main purposes, to protect the creator's right to obtain commercial benefit from valuable work, and to protect the creator's general right to control how a work is used. Copyright laws make it illegal to reproduce almost any new creative work without permission unless it is used under Fair use. The Berne copyright convention, which most major nations follow, states every creative work created after April 1, 1989 is copyrighted the moment it is in fixed tangible form, with no notice necessary. You should assume other peoples work is copyrighted and may NOT be copied unless otherwise known. This includes pictures. Although no notice is necessary it strengthens the protection. The correct form of a notice is "Copyright (the date) by (the creator)." A creative work , something that is created, must be in tangible from, that means it has to be on disk, paper , ETC. (it must be in a physical visible form). If you create something, and it fit the definition of a creative work, you the creator, get to control who can make copies of it. You can't copyright facts or thoughts, although the clever expression, structure, or organization of the facts can be, this called compilation copyright. Some believe that copyright can give powers to the copyright holder, but since a copyright is rather worthless unless it holds some sort of value in the market place, the power is lost. For a copyright to be enforced it helps for it to be registered and has to have some commercial value. Why would someone file suit for copyright violation if the item has no or little commercial value, however copyright is law and the wishes of the holder should be held. Anything you write and post on the net is a creative work and is in tangible form, therefor copyrightable work. The commercial value of something place on the Internet can damage it's value because you are giving it away free to a large number of people.
 

     Public domain means from a legal point of view, a creation that does not have copyright protection. Nothing is in public domain unless the creator puts it in the public domain. A creation disclosed to a specific group of people for a limited purpose is not necessarily "Public domain." Creations that are no longer covered under the copyright protection or whose creators that have waived their rights are in the "public domain." The creator must state "I grant this to the public domain."
 

     The fair use/fair dealing is a complex doctrine associated with copyright law which allows certain types of copying without permission. Most people claim fair use incorrectly, the fair use exemption exists to stop copyright law from being used to stop criticism. Fair use basically means, that if you are doing things like commenting on copyrighted work, news reporting, research and education on it or about the copyrighted item, you can make some limited use of the work with out permission. Fair use is almost always a short excerpt and almost always accredited. Fair use should not harm the commercial value of the item. "If you didn't write it, and you want to reproduce it, ask the creator,"-Brad Templton. Even though the making of a new work is a creative process. If it is using the bases or characters from somebody else's work, you need that creator's permission.
 

U.S Copyright office
Informance on copyright laws by the U.S. goverment.
The copyright website
Copyright informationof interestnfonauts, netsurfers, webspinners, content providers, musicians, appropriationists, activists, infringers, outlaws, and law abiding citizens.
Better ethics online
Web site established to promote better ethics online.
Copyright Management Center
Have Questions, they have the answers.-Indiana University
Copyright & Fair Use
Primary Materials, Resources on the Internet, and Overview of Copyright Law by Stanford University Libraries
Fair Use in Copyright
Internet resource on technology law

     Copyright law secures for the creator of a creative work the exclusive right to control who can make copies, or make works derived from the original work. What you say isn't copyrighted until it's put into tangible form, and it is copyright the moment it is in tangible form with or with out notice or registration. A copyright holder can stop you from copying something, usually they would much rather find some way to charge you for it. Computers never make copies only humans do. To have a copy is not having the copyright. Names or anything like that such as titles can't be copyrighted, that is trademarks. Unlike trademarks, copyrights will not be lost if not defended.