# Registering a website

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registering-a-website/211207>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 3, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registering-a-website/211207 "2003-11-03T20:24:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registering-a-website/211207/1 "2003-11-03T20:24:16Z")

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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](http://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?

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**Author:** ![Amun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Amun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amun)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registering-a-website/211207/2 "2003-11-03T21:50:18Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registering-a-website/211207/3 "2003-11-03T22:29:39Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registering-a-website/211207/4 "2003-11-04T03:20:30Z")

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Perhaps you should visit the [US Copyright Office](http://www.loc.gov/copyright/) and not a motion picture trade web site for the most accurate information.