copyright just because I say so

[Smarty Panties]

What is the name of your state? IN but not sure that matters

I was having a discussion with someone and I was curious if she's correct. She says if she makes a forum template for a free forum and posts that template on a public forum for others to download & use, it's copyrighted (is that a word?) simply because she made it and is subject to copyright laws. She says no one can alter it in any way, as in use different buttons or background, images etc, or she'll have the board deleted for breaking copyright laws. Is she correct that the template is subject to copyright laws simply because she made it? isn't there a legal procedure in order to copyright something?

 

[Happy Trails]

What is the name of your state? IN but not sure that matters

I was having a discussion with someone and I was curious if she's correct. She says if she makes a forum template for a free forum and posts that template on a public forum for others to download & use, it's copyrighted (is that a word?) simply because she made it and is subject to copyright laws. She says no one can alter it in any way, as in use different buttons or background, images etc, or she'll have the board deleted for breaking copyright laws. Is she correct that the template is subject to copyright laws simply because she made it? isn't there a legal procedure in order to copyright something?

**Yes copyrighted is a word. I believe she has to register it with the copyright office.

 

[Happy Trails]

Here's a good link: http://www.copyright.gov/

 

[Smarty Panties]

Thank you.

 

[J. Michael]

Well you can register the source code. Someone counldn't just download the source and use it however they want. But how much protection would the appearance of the template have? For example, blank forms cannot be copyrighted. Some font code has also been denied registration because it was generated without the required minimal creativity. [font faces apart from the code are not covered at all by copyright] Was the template generated by an automated process or a minimally creative one? Register it because if not, someone will say they (or you) got it somewhere else. This type of code is all over the place.

 

[Smarty Panties]

What do you mean by source code? Not exactly sure what that means.

I wasn't the one who created it but the template was created using common techniques with photoshop. I've looked around on the site provided by happy trails and I'm finding some info that refute her claims and some that support it so I'm completely lost.