Second: when does a copyright come into existence? Legally, when something is first created (not published) in a tangible or fixed form, the copyright on it exists. "Tangible or fixed" means what you'd expect; in printed form, or on a tape or CD or diskette, or for that matter carved into a tree. If your work is saved on any medium that can be perceived and/or touched it is tangible. You could have a great existential discussion as to whether an e-mail or a web site is tangible if it isn't printed or saved, but while that might be fun it wouldn't accomplish much; so just print it or save it and you've won.
Given this, you might argue that there is no point in incurring the time and expense of going through the formal process of registering the copyright. Well, there are two gigantic "gotchas" if you don't. First, an unregistered copyright amounts to just your say-so against everyone else's — in other words there is precious little legal force behind it. In addition, you must register the copyright to invoke it in legal proceedings. Second, should you succeed in nailing someone for infringement, the damages you can claim are limited to actual, provable ones and/or loss of profit; they don't include statutory damages (which may be much greater than actual damages) or attorney's fees (which could also be greater than the actual damages!) You aren't doing yourself any favors at all by neglecting to register your copyright.
I have come across people who insist that there's a simpler and less expensive way to register a copyright than the formal procedure which I'll take you through later. This is sometimes known as a "poor man's copyright". It consists of mailing the work to yourself in a registered letter and keeping it on file without opening it. Well, it won't work. All it will do is establish the date at which you mailed it: that may be useful in establishing your priority of possession of the work — that you had it before someone else — but that's all. It certainly can't prove that you created the work. On the Copyright Office's frequently-asked-questions page it is stated that "There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration." Best you stick with the program, wouldn't you say?
The first time you publish anything — by revealing it in any form to the world — put a copyright notice on it, even if you haven't registered the copyright yet. It does no harm, it indicates that you are aware of your rights, and it might scare someone off long enough for you to get the copyright registered — and it's the date that the Copyright Office receives the registration that is the effective date of your rights.
Moving right along, hopefully you're convinced that properly registering the copyright on your web site is the best thing to do.
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