I understand that registration is not indispensable for claiming copyright ownership, but it is preferable to register your work in case you do go to court. I checked in www.copyright.org and they say that I can send CD’s. It just doesn’t specify WHAT I am registering, is it the text, pictures, design, all of that. Furthermore, should I have to re-register my work every time I update my site (daily, as we have a forum).
How can I register my website?
I am not at all well versed in copyright laws, but from what I understand you don’t have to “register” a copyright with anyone. The only thing you have to register are trademarks, and that’s only if you don’t want someone to steal them.
As for “acquiring” a copyright, I believe that as soon as you create something, it is automagically copywritten, and all you have to do is throw a tiny little © at the bottom (ie. scroll down to the bottom of this page) and that should protect you in court, providing you can prove that you created it first.
Again, I could be wrong, so anyone who knows more about this feel free to correct me.
You don’t even need to put the c symbol on it, either. All you absolutely need to do is create the work. But the OP already knows this, and registering a copyright can make it much easier to defend if someone tries to infringe it.
Perhaps you should visit the US Copyright Office and not a motion picture trade web site for the most accurate information.