3 In Australia, there is no formal registration at all, and the
government simply encourages work to be marked as copyrighted when it is created. In
the United States, websites are registered with the US Copyright Office. While trademarks
and patents can take a long time to register (sometimes years), registering a copyright in
America is a comparatively simple and fast process.
Registering a site in the United States can be done by the company itself, or through a
legal firm. In essence, three things need to be submitted: the completed registration form,
a copy of the work, and payment. Websites can be registered through either a Form TX
(published or unpublished nondramatic works) or Form VA (published or unpublished
works). Websites that are text-heavy (like most corporate sites) could fit into Form TX;
websites that focus on visual graphics (like a photography portfolio) would use Form VA.
This is an admittedly fuzzy distinction, but it??™s the best the government has to offer.
While a work is technically protected under copyright law as soon as it??™s created, without
documentation from an official registration, a copyright dispute can easily degenerate into
a grade school??“level ???he said, she said??? argument.
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