Websites People Business Copyright Permission Copyrighted Copy Text

In the United States, copyright protection is a serious problem for individuals and businesses. If a person or company has the "copyright" on text, music, artwork, or something else that he or she has created, then it cannot be used by other people without permission in writing. "Copyright protection" means the things that individuals and businesses do to try to stop other people from using their copyrighted materials.

The Internet has created many opportunities for "copyright infringement," or using copyrighted materials without permission. On websites, it is easy to copy text (this is known as "plagiarism") and download music or images. But doing this is "illegal" or against the law. If you see "(c)2007" or something similar at the bottom of a website, it means that all of the information on that website is copyrighted and you cannot copy it without the permission of the owners.

Some websites give everyone permission to use and copy their work, even though it normally would be copyrighted. For example, there are some websites of "clipart" (small drawings that can be placed on websites or in text documents) that contain text stating that anyone can use their clipart. Some people do this because they want to have many people visit their websites. However, it is more common for clipart websites to have a "license for use" or an agreement about how visitors can use the clipart designs.

The U.S. Copyright Office has a website where you can learn more about copyright and how to register copyrights on your own websites. Its web address is http://www.copyright.gov/.