You may be concerned about placing your work on this website for fear of copyright infringment. You are entitled to this fear. Short of placing passwords on every page, allowing only yourself to view it (which of course defeats the purpose), the internet by its nature is open to anyone and, these days, just about everyone. And theft does happen.
However, whilst the subject is a tricky one, the work is automatically 'yours', and by placing a copyright notice, name and date on it, you or the website hosting the work, has effectively taken the available steps necessary to protect it.
Technically, no person can reproduce your work without permission, as The Copyright Licensing Agency (www.cla.co.uk) explains:
The World Wide Web is subject to copyright, and Web pages are themselves literary works. The textual articles contained on Web pages are also separate literary works, the graphics are artistic works, and any sound files are sound recordings containing separate musical works. In a single World Wide Web page there can be dozens of different copyrights. The consent of the copyright holder is required for each act of copying.
If you want to print out a Web page, or copy-and-paste anything from a Web page into a document of your own, you should obtain the permission of the copyright owner - check the copyright notice on the Web page.
From www.cla.co.uk (Copyright Licensing Agency)
As is displayed here, it is only permissible to reproduce another person's work in a public format through first seeking permission, and then, generally, making a reference as to the source.
But, officially speaking, work placed on a website is protected, as The Patent Office explain on their site (www.patent.gov.uk):
Is material on the Internet protected by copyright?
Yes. Under UK law (the position in other countries may differ) copyright material sent over the Internet or stored on web servers will generally be protected in the same way as material in other media. So anyone wishing to put copyright material on the Internet, or further distribute or download such material that others have placed on the Internet, should ensure that they have the permission of the owners of rights in the material.
What about marking my work and enforcing copyright when I put it on a web site?
Generally, when you put your work on a web site, it is probably a good idea to mark each page of the web site with the international © mark followed by the name of the copyright owner and year of publication. In addition, you could include information on your web site about the extent to which you are content for others to use your copyright material without permission. Although material on a web site is protected by copyright in the same way as material in other media, you should bear in mind that web sites are accessible from all over the world and, if material on your web site is used without your permission, you would generally need to take action for copyright infringement where this use occurs.
You are covered then, it would seem, particularly as proving the date of your work in this day and age should not be a problem. Provided you have taken the necessary steps, and kept copies, coupled with the the odds against anyone actually wishing to poach poetry, your work will be as safe as it can be on any website.
The steps for protection are listed by Matthew Holohan on The E-How Website (www.ehow.com), and are taken as a matter of course by Paramount Poetry:
eHow to Protect Your Work From Internet Copyright Violation by Matthew Holohan
The openness of Internet technology often leads to a relaxed adherence to copyright laws. Remember that you own everything you create, regardless of whether you've filed it with the U.S. Copyright Office. To protect your material from unlawful distribution, make others aware of the terms of use of your intellectual property.
Steps:
1. Include a prominently displayed statement of ownership with any images or documents you have posted on your Web site or that you post to newsgroups or discussion boards (for example, "This image is property of John Smith and may not be used or reproduced without permission from the owner").
2. Include your e-mail address with the statement so that people can contact you for permission to use your material.
3. Add a "Terms and Conditions of Use" or "Legal Information" section on your Web page explaining your policy on the use of your material. For example, you may wish to allow reproduction for any personal use as long as the material remains unaltered.
4. Consider registering with the U.S. Copyright Office to explicitly protect certain materials.
Include prominently displayed copyright notices with any copyrighted material.
From www.ehow.com
Any backgrounds, graphics etc used by this website are done so in good faith where the creator has provided for the site or, through their own website, allowed others to use them for free. Where credit and/or links back are requested, we have provided these. If you believe any such art has been used on this site wrongly ie. without permission or giving credit and/or link backs, please email the details to the address below where we will take every necessary immediate action.
When work is accepted for publication on the site, the copyright remains with the poet who may freely seek its publication again in other formats in the future.
Should you have any further queries on Internet Copyright, or have anything you wish to add to this page, please contact me at the e-mail address below.
Jonathan Fitzgerald.
