Interesting

I was reading an article on this type of thing last week as I was concerned about my stuff. the article was actually from Aprils edition of 3d world. I'll be as brief a possible with what they said.

firstly it boils down to the country you reside, they used the USA and the UK for the article. they used scripts as the subject matter but it goes for all sides.

In the UK your work must be original to you and therefore must not amount to a substantial copy of an earlier work. Whether a copy is substantial is not assessed by the number of wordss or paragraphs that are copied but whether taken as a whole, the copy is based on what makes the earlier work original. Though this is considered subjective and can be a costly claim to defend.

However you should distinguish the copying of a copyright work to the mere copying of themes or ideas, ie: taking an idea say from a dysfunctional cartoon family or a space adventure does not amount to the infringement of copyright in English Law. Its the expression of themes and ideas (words and phrases used) that attracts copyright protection. Having satisfied yourself that you have an original copyrighted works you need to figure out to share the works without it becoming a free for all.

They also say that work on a website is basically like leaving it out on the street for all to see and take as their own.

Here in the UK you need to to have copyright asserted by basically putting a copyright logo on your front page of your website, ya know the little 'c' in a circle your name and also the year of creation. Its your way of saying you own the content. But there is no copyright register in the UK but instead several informal logs that can be used to store your your work for 3rd party evaluation. Again these have no legal standing but are just useful for evidence to show the work that your works were in existence at a particular time.

the article goes on about non disclosure agreements etc.

But in the USA the Library of Congress operates a library of copyright register of original work. If you do notregister you may not be able to recover whats rightfully yours. Its always recomended you register your copyright in the US regardless.

at the end of the day everything must be decided at your own risk

ta daaa

Jay