Remember to change your website!

[rob1963]

If you have a copyright message on your website incorporating the current year, remember to change it from 2007 to 2008!

I recently got my webhost to make some amendments to my own site, but didn't notice that the copyright message needed changing until afterwards.

:)

[Jiggles]

Just checking mine :D

[rob1963]

Just checking mine :D

Good boy, Callum!

The ones I noticed from regular forum contributors that need changing are Corabar, Dragonfly, Elite & DMX Will.

:)

[Creature]

just spent the last 3 months revamping my websit e- in fact i threw it away and started again :):) but i havent checked taht part - not even sure if i got it on yet :):)

[bluishbob]

how do you get copyright?

I have a new web site on the way but hadn;t thought about it

[Jiggles]

Just add the (c) mark and thats is!

[Vectis]

Or © if you want the proper "c in a circle".

Or get around the issue by putting, for example, "2006 to present", as I did :D

[PropellerHeadCase]

Is there any actual necessity to put the year at all?

[rob1963]

Is there any actual necessity to put the year at all?

No, but it's something I choose to do, as I personally think it looks better.

[Shaun]

I could be completely wrong, but I was under the impression that the date should remain unchanged, not sure why I thought that though?. I'm sure Marc will be along to keep me right. :)

One reason for not changing it (in my reasoning), is that it can show that your site was up and running before someone else's, should they decide steal content from your site.

[Paul James Promotions]

Oops, just realised that I had changed references to 2007 to 2008, but forgot the copyright bit :(

Cheers for that :D

[rob1963]

I could be completely wrong, but I was under the impression that the date should remain unchanged, not sure why I thought that though?. I'm sure Marc will be along to keep me right. :)

One reason for not changing it (in my reasoning), is that it can show that your site was up and running before someone else's, should they decide steal content from your site.

Shaun,

If I remember correctly, Marc suggested you have a "from" year and a "to" year with the copyright message...so that's what I went with.

Although you have to remember to change the "to" year each year, having a "from" date still shows that your site was up and running before someone elses.

[PropellerHeadCase]

Then again so do file creation dates and ISP account details.

[Dragonfly]

just asked the company that do my site to change mine as i have no idea how to?


ooooo hold on got an idea..


done it that was easy

[Corabar Steve]

I would have thought that you only needed to change it when you change content.

[rob1963]

I would have thought that you only needed to change it when you change content.

How would that work?

Steve,

Your own site says copyright 2004-2006, which suggests it is no longer copyright.....as we are now in 2008!

:shrug:

[Dragonfly]

Surely the 2004-6 is when the copyright was first put in place and there is no need to update it as it is still copyright ..... maybe copyright does have a life span but im sure its probably more than 3-4 years????

[DJWilson]

if you dont change the ©Copyright 1990-2004 then people may be able to copy your work because your havent updated ©Copyright 1990-2008

[rob1963]

Surely the 2004-6 is when the copyright was first put in place and there is no need to update it as it is still copyright ..... maybe copyright does have a life span but im sure its probably more than 3-4 years????

I don't know for sure, as I'm no expert.

However, "Copyright 2004-2006" suggests to me that it WAS copyright between those dates, but is not any more.

Much like "World darts champion 2004-2006" would suggest the same thing.

[Corabar Steve]

I don't know Angela deals with that.

I was just saying I would have thought that you only needed to change it when you change content.

For example a book is published in 1990, it is still in print now, does the copyright change?

I'll point it out to she who must be obeyed.

[Shaun]

Surely the 2004-6 is when the copyright was first put in place and there is no need to update it as it is still copyright ..... maybe copyright does have a life span but im sure its probably more than 3-4 years????

I'm pretty sure I read that copyright has a life span of 100 years (in the US anyway)

[Marc J]

I reality it doesn't matter much to be honest! As I've said before (http://www.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=149990&postcount=26), it's all in the Berne Copyright Convention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_an d_Artistic_Works), which most of the World have signed up to.

You don't actually need to put a copyright notice on your site at all, anything created privately and originally after 1st April 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not.

However, I've always included a date range in any copyright notice, from the original creation to last edited page. So a website may say © 2005 - 2008 because it was originally created in 2005, but has been edited and updated through to 2008, and so the blanket copyright message in the footer covers all pages.

Copyright lasts until 70 years after the author dies.

See: -
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copyright.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_Copyright_Directive.

[Andy Westcott]

Thanks for the heads-up - I'll go and sort out my pages, although as stated your work is automatically copyright in any case.

[Candybeatdiscos]

Copyright lasts until 70 years after the author dies.

See: -
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copyright.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_Copyright_Directive.

So Shaun if Marc dies tomorrow you still have 70 years before someone would be legally allowed to steal your site - unless he is US Based and daz scares him off and he finds your site lol

[rob1963]

Thanks for the heads-up - I'll go and sort out my pages, although as stated your work is automatically copyright in any case.

I just think it looks more professional if each of your webpages has a copyright message at the bottom of it which includes the from & to years.


So Shaun if Marc dies tomorrow you still have 70 years before someone would be legally allowed to steal your site - unless he is US Based and daz scares him off and he finds your site lol

Lewnics,

I was wondering...is your ant copyright?

:D

[Candybeatdiscos]

what ant? i dont have an ant

[Tom]

in your signiture???

[rob1963]

what ant? i dont have an ant

What is he, then?

[Corabar Steve]

Looks like Blackfly to me (or could be a small beetle). Definately not an ant

These are ants, note they have 3 main divisions. The head, the trunk, and the metasoma. (unlike Gary's crawly thing)

[Shaun]

So Shaun if Marc dies tomorrow you still have 70 years before someone would be legally allowed to steal your site - unless he is US Based and daz scares him off and he finds your site lol

Something like that...yeah. :D


I reality it doesn't matter much to be honest! As I've said before (http://www.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=149990&postcount=26), it's all in the Berne Copyright Convention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_an d_Artistic_Works), which most of the World have signed up to.

You don't actually need to put a copyright notice on your site at all, anything created privately and originally after 1st April 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not.

However, I've always included a date range in any copyright notice, from the original creation to last edited page. So a website may say © 2005 - 2008 because it was originally created in 2005, but has been edited and updated through to 2008, and so the blanket copyright message in the footer covers all pages.

Copyright lasts until 70 years after the author dies.

See: -
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copyright.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_Copyright_Directive.

Marc,

Thanks for all the info. :approve:

[Marc J]

Shaun,

Rather than post two consecutive posts, please use the "Edit" facility to merge them together :D

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Shaun,

Rather than post two consecutive posts, please use the "Edit" facility to merge them together :D

Amatuers....:p

[Shaun]

Shaun,

Rather than post two consecutive posts, please use the "Edit" facility to merge them together :D

:lol:

Duly noted!

[Marc J]

Just bumping this, as Rob asked me to change his notice this morning!

If your site is PHP, you can do a simple change to automatically have the current year shown, for example (i.e. from 2005 - current): -

Copyright &copy; 2005-<?php echo date("Y") ?> Bloggs Mobile Disco.

For HTML pages it's a little more complicated, you have to use Javascript: -

Copyright &copy; 2005-<script type="text/javascript">var d = new Date();document.write(d.getFullYear());</script> Bloggs Mobile Disco.

The Javascript solution won't work if the viewer has Javascript disabled, though. If you want to be really clever you can use the PHP option and parse the HTM(L) pages as PHP by adding this to your site's .htaccess file (as long as your host supports PHP): -

## PARSE HTML & HTM FILES AS PHP
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .html .htm

Don't be afraid - it's not as complicated as it looks :)

[rob1963]

Just bumping this, as Rob asked me to change his notice this morning!

And thanks for changing it so quickly :thumbsup:

[CRAZY K]

Just bumping this, as Rob asked me to change his notice this morning!

If your site is PHP, you can do a simple change to automatically have the current year shown, for example (i.e. from 2005 - current): -


For HTML pages it's a little more complicated, you have to use Javascript: -


The Javascript solution won't work if the viewer has Javascript disabled, though. If you want to be really clever you can use the PHP option and parse the HTM(L) pages as PHP by adding this to your site's .htaccess file (as long as your host supports PHP): -


Don't be afraid - it's not as complicated as it looks :)

I cant believe anyone would want to copy any of my sites---so I dont worry too much :D

CRAZY K

[DazzyD]

I could be completely wrong, but I was under the impression that the date should remain unchanged, not sure why I thought that though?. I'm sure Marc will be along to keep me right. :)

One reason for not changing it (in my reasoning), is that it can show that your site was up and running before someone else's, should they decide steal content from your site.

I believe that "to" dates are added to show amendments. The "from" dates should remain the same.


How would that work?

Steve,

Your own site says copyright 2004-2006, which suggests it is no longer copyright.....as we are now in 2008!

:shrug:

This is not true as, under UK Copyright Law, the author of a publication owns copyright for "their lifespan+ 70 years" although they can transfer ownership to a 3rd party (the actual publisher, for example).


if you dont change the ©Copyright 1990-2004 then people may be able to copy your work because your havent updated ©Copyright 1990-2008

Not true. See above.


I'm pretty sure I read that copyright has a life span of 100 years (in the US anyway)

Copyright does have a lifespan. You're completely right, Shaun, although US Copyright Law doesn't apply in the UK.


I reality it doesn't matter much to be honest! As I've said before (http://www.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=149990&postcount=26), it's all in the Berne Copyright Convention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_an d_Artistic_Works), which most of the World have signed up to.

You don't actually need to put a copyright notice on your site at all, anything created privately and originally after 1st April 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not.

However, I've always included a date range in any copyright notice, from the original creation to last edited page. So a website may say © 2005 - 2008 because it was originally created in 2005, but has been edited and updated through to 2008, and so the blanket copyright message in the footer covers all pages.

Copyright lasts until 70 years after the author dies.

See: -
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copyright.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_Copyright_Directive.

Marc, I've noticed that the Templeton site relates to non-UK Copyright law but you are correct in stating that website content Copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the author. This was increased from 50 years in 1996 (and this proved very controversial as literary works that entered the public domain in 1995 came back in to copyright for another 19 years! This meant that you could legally reproduce this work in 1995 but reproducing it in 1996 meant you were breaking the law!).