Some questions for you tech savvy people about setting up a web site!

[joeybee12]

Where should I start?

I'm a novice--it wouldn't be a blog, but a site. Fairly low tech, with a few photos, but mainly copy.

Can I copyright my material that's on the site?

Can I photoshop the heads of Dumbo and his evil henchmen onto photos of little children and not get sued? This will be political satire, so I'm assuming that using images of politicians is fair game, but I want to make sure.

More questions will come to me as I keep kicking this post til eternity!

Thanks!:)

[sendero]

1. Here's what I think I know...

...you can copyright your site, but you really cannot keep people from stealing your text/photos and using them. You can sue them, but you'd better have a lot of $$ to spend on it.

As for your photoshop example, I don't think there is any problem with that. It is political speech, which is the most highly protected form. There are lots of gray areas here, but the rule of thumb is that if it is obviously satire, it is legal.

[joeybee12]

6. Hmmm....I do want to be able to keep the text....maybe I should start

saving money now!

Thanks!

[sendero]

7. Here's the thing..

.... the web was build on copying.

Do a search on something like a favorite recording artist or author. I guarantee you, you'll find multiple copies of the same text on multiple sites.

Which site originated it? Hard to tell sometimes.

Now, if you are writing something that you think has value and don't want it stolen, you can certainly add copyright notices conspicuously on the page. That will stop some people. Short of that, if you find your words on someone else's page, you can send them an email and tell them to take it down. If they don't - then you need lawyers.

Frankly, I don't see how it will be a real problem if you make it clear that you aren't having it.

[joeybee12]

8. Thanks!

[Catch22Dem]

2. Start by getting a domain name

You know, the part between the www and the .com You can go to www.godaddy.com for some pretty good deals on domain names. Once you have that, you'll need a host (someone who has a server and will allow you to put your files on it.) Try www.hostmysite.com they're great. I've used them for years and have never had a problem.

As far as copyright law goes, if you're the creator of the image and you can prove when you created it, it's your intellectual property, thus subject to copyright laws. However, you have to be careful about where you get your material. The changes to the original image have to be significant enough that it changes the overall image. Copyright law is gray, so you just have to be careful.

[joeybee12]

4. Thanks--I'm more concerned about cpyrighting the copy--the words..

...as opposed to the images, and I think that would be easier to protect.

[lastknowngood]

3. urbansurvival.com has cheep product to guide you through

setting up the whole thing. It's pretty easy and has a lot of features. George the guy who runs the site is an old time conservative, balanced budgets and such he really hates the chimp and the fed especially Greenspam.

[joeybee12]

5. Thanks--so all I'd really have to do is just say how I want the site

to look and function, and he'll guide me through? Sounds too good to be true!

[joeybee12]

9. I'm kicking this to get more wonderful ideas!

[joeybee12]

10. Another vanity kick!