Gaming Journalism Website?

[Ownaholic]

State: Pennsylvania

Hey everybody, I just found this site and love it already. I'll probably use it as a base from now on for all of my legal questions.

Anyway, I recently started up a video game "news" (to categorize it in one descriptive word) site, which has gained a pretty decent amount of popularity in the short 2 months that it has been up. The site can be found at GamerFill.com , for reference.

I've obtained volunteer writers, we've been getting a lot of recognition from the major gaming companies, and things have just generally been moving along amazingly well.
Thus, I feel that it's time to ensure the protection of the intellectual property of the website, but I do not know in what ways I can do this. I did some research before posting here, and found that names alone cannot be registered (however I also read that "GamerFill.com" CAN be registered), as well as that everything has a natural copyright law from the moment it is created.
However, I want to be able to back everything up in court if need be, and from my understanding, I would need to obtain an official Copyright.

I read that I can protect the actual content within the site, but then it would only be protecting whatever is currently there. Since we constantly produce new works on a daily basis (news articles, videos, editorials, etc), then I would need to constantly re-register the website. That's a lot of money, and time, that I don't have to spend.

My question is: What can I do to have the legal backing and rights regarding the concept (intellectual concept of "GamerFill" being what it is), as well as the content held and produced within?

Also, members of the site will soon be able to post articles and reviews of their own; how can I legally create enforceable terms that say "If you publish your content to our website, we have the right to use it in whatever way we wish"? Can I just say that blatantly and have it be enforceable by nature? Obviously, we cannot use their works commercially, but we do intend to "feature" the best works we find.

I consider the website to be a company, and we regard ourselves as such when dealing with gaming companies and public relations. Is there any way to make that statement official and legally valid?

On a side-note, we do NOT sell any products or offer membership fees, so that voids out Trademarks to my understanding, right? Does this also void the concept of us being a real "company"? We DO offer advertising space, whether or not this is irrelevant I do not know.

Thanks a million to whoever helps me out with this!

 

[FlyingRon]

Names aren't protectable by copyright, but you can get trademark protection for them (and registration with the USPTO gives you additional protections).

You have an "official" copyright from the moment the thoughts are put online.
Registration is not required, though it is often a prerequisite for filing in federal court if it gets that far.

Owning rights to postings is common (look at this site for example, you did read the terms when you signed up right?). One more thing, if you are going to allow contributions from people, you should make sure you avail yourself of the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act protections (google it) so in case some of your "contributors" infringes you have less liability.

As for being an official company: well you can register your name as a fictitious name (also frequently called a "dba" or "ta") Call your local county government, they often make it relatively easy. Of course, eventually you may wish to incorporate.