Question

For my newest web application, I decided to write a copyright at the bottom. This is the code to do so. (Classic ASP)

<p align="center"><font color="#000000">Copyright &copy; 2012
<% 
If Year(Date) > 2012 Then
Response.Write "- " & Year(Date) 
End If
%> 
&nbsp;Alexander Piechowski. All rights reserved.</font></p>

Displays:

Copyright © 2012 Alexander Piechowski. All rights reserved.

I was wondering if this was the best way to display a copywrite that changes in Classic ASP.

As well, what qualifies a website to display a copyright notice? Just the fact that you designed and wrote all the code yourself, or is there more to it? Is there any “requirement” like 80% genuine code?

Answer 1

Your technique works as well as any; I would use a slightly different syntax simply to cram it all on one line but yours is much more readable.

The way I understand the copyright notice, and please realize I am not a copyright expert, is this … In the current world a copyright is automatic. When you create a unique asset that work is your property automatically. This means that someone cannot take your work, copy it, and use it for themselves without your permission. In the modern system all that notice does is act as a reminder, it does not serve any additional “legal” significance.

With that said, all it means is they cannot copy your work. There is nothing keeping them from liking your idea and then re-creating it with their own code; to prevent this you would need to patent your idea.

I hope this helps!

NOTICE: This is in NO WAY legal advice and should not be used to determine a significant course of action regarding your website. This is simply my understanding of the copyright system and the way it works.