Copyright can I sue?

[Greggd09]

I live in Ohio and have a federal copyright on my website I created in 2010, come to find out while searching the web the other day and it appears someone has taken my website, and made their own.

Can I sue? Or should I write the creators, I checked for thier copyright and they don't have one...

 

[quincy]

I am having a hard time trying to figure out what your situation is. Could you provide more details, please?

Did you register material from your website through the U.S. Copyright Office? If yes, what material, exactly, did you register?

In what way or ways has the other website "copied" your site?

I can tell you now that original and creative works are automatically copyrighted as soon as they are fixed in a tangible form. There does not have to be any notice of copyright on a work and there does not have to be a copyright bug (©) present on the work. Works do not have to be registered either federally or with a state to be protected under copyright laws.

Ideas and facts are not copyrightable, so someone can legally copy your idea for a website without infringing on your rights. Names and short phrases are not copyrightable, but if the name that identifies your website (your trademark) is copied, the other website might be infringing on your trademark rights.

Perhaps with more information I can tell you better what courses of action may be available for you to take, and whether I think a lawsuit is an option that is worth your time and expense of pursuing. Or you can consult with an attorney in your area, who can personally review all of the facts and advise you accordingly.

 

[Greggd09]

Thanks for your response.

In 2010 I registered my website to the copyright office, I have the form still and verified it in the records.

My site is PartyFoul.org

My registration has me down as

Title of work: partyfoul.org

First publication and year of competition.

Author created text, photograph, source code.

Then my citizenship and address and basic stuff.


So if a website has stolen my website name or any affiliation in which I may pursue?
Or that has the same concept?

Just highly confused.

Thanks for your responses and hope this information helps

 

[quincy]

I did not find any other nonprofit organization with your website name, and I did not see any website that resembled your site or its content. But, admittedly, my search was a brief one.

I did run across many uses of the words "party foul" (the words in your web title), but none were used in a way that would confuse consumers into thinking there was a connection between these and your political website and its forum.

What IS protectable about your website is the media incorporated and displayed on the site (the text, artwork, photos, music or other sound, movies or other animation). For anyone to take and use this media (the part of your website that contains copyrightable expression) without your permission, then that could potentially be an infringement on your rights.

Copyright protection does not extend, however, to a website's layout or site design, so if the other site merely resembles yours but does not use any of your copyright-protected material, there is not much you can do about it. And copyright protection does not extend to the idea of a political website with forum, so there is not much you can do about that.

So, from this distance and without locating the other website that concerns you, I cannot tell you if there is any lawsuit you could pursue with success. For a thorough, personal review of all of the facts, and a side-by-side comparison of your site to the one you feel is copying yours, you will probably have to consult with an attorney in your area.

Good luck, Greggd09.