Website Idea Copyright

[Neophyteinc]

Hey,

I just have a question that I still cannot get an answer to.

If we have a unique website idea, is it possible to copyright it if we write it down on paper before we go and let it out to business plan services and all that?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much

Ando

[pboychuk]

I really can't give any good advice, maybe just get the topic rolling.. But, I do know sites like youtube do have tons of patents, I suppose they are for the code, or maybe for certain processes.. However, I don't believe you can just patent the general idea of a website..
I normally do like this suggestion, just because I think it is spending money before you really need to, but I would suggest talking to an attorney, because not only could they tell you what can be copyright protected, but also I am sure filing such protections is not easy.

[PsiPro]

DISCLAIMER: IANAL, this is what I have gathered through my own research over the years.

You can't copyright/patent an idea per se. You need to copyright the process of doing something.

You can't even copyright a protocol or a block of code. It can be copyrighted to the extent that nobody my make a copy of your code from your repositories (this would be industrial espionage). For example... if you have code that converts an youtube video into a series of still images and somebody makes the exact same thing with code that looks almost identical to your own code... your SOL.

My understanding is that the code issue falls under the, you didn't create the language framework so you can't copyright it.

The problem is the copyright system is horribly broken.

As for copyrighting an idea, your essentially asking to force a monopoly by copyrighting your idea. You will have to just deal with the competition.

[rdc]

PsiPro is correct: you cannot "copyright" an idea.

The fundamental theory underlying Copyright law is a dichotomy between an idea, and the expression of that idea. You can only have a copyright on the expression of that idea. That is, you have to create the website first, and even then, only the copyrightable elements are protectable.

You cannot prevent others from making a website that serves a similar function; you could only prevent them from taking and using copyrightable elements of that website (for example, a photograph taken by you).

If there is a truly novel piece of technology or process utilized by the website, you MIGHT be able to pursue a patent on the technology, and this will generally start at $5k+. If you are looking at the copyright route, given your source material, you probably do not qualify for a patent, but you would need to consult an attorney to be sure.

The truly appropriate option for you, should you develop a business plan and engage in discussions with other parties regarding your ideas and plans, is to develop a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) and/or other potential contracts such as nonsolicit/noncompete/etc. Since this is in a business context, you should also consider legal consultation on trade secret law and trade secret compliance within the context of your business relations and your company/operation itself.

Please let me know if I can help you further with these disclosure, patent, and other IP issues.