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Ask HN: How to protect/copyright code/essays/papers published on my site?

4 points| wizardofoz | 16 years ago | reply

Hi,

I'm thinking of creating a personal website and putting on it source code, articles/essays, unpublished papers, etc. that I have/will writ(t)e(n).

However I am concerned some of these works might be stolen. I'm especially concerned that someone might publish on their own name the unpublished papers I have written and/or use my code in their programs and then claim it as their own.

Is there some way to prevent this? In case one of the above does happen, is there some way for me prove that I am the true author of the work?

I read a post on HN a while ago that discussed copyright. Over there one solution was to pay $35 fee and get all your work officially copyrighted. It seems like the best way to protect one's work but the only problem is $35 is a bit too expensive in my case. I intend on releasing code & papers that discuss new ideas frequently (probably monthly, if not weekly). In that case 35 bucks is a bit too much to pay even on a monthly basis.

The nice thing about the $35 option is that you can copyright all of your work in one filing (done online at http://www.copyright.gov/eco/index.html). But the problem of cost persists if you decide to release stuff frequently.

9 comments

order
[+] dkokelley|16 years ago|reply
Well, officially once you write something, it is copyrighted. You don't have to pay $35 to put © on it. However, in order to have some legal recourse if someone takes your work, you will want to be able to prove prior art (basically that you wrote it first).

If you want to use the site to host your unpublished/unfinished works, why do you need them in the source code? Why not hide them?

If papers and essays are all you will be using the site for, you might consider just installing Wordpress and using it to manage everything. It will keep unfinished works hidden until you're ready to publish them, and Wordpress has a datestamp that can be applied to posts to give some simple protection. Of course the datestamp could be altered and there's nothing keeping me from copying everything and putting an earlier date on it.

[+] gojomo|16 years ago|reply
(You mean "prove original authorship" rather than "prove prior art".)

The act of publishing might create a reliable record of first authorship, for example if the material becomes quoted or replicated in third-party systems with timestamps not trivially changeable by the disputants. (Simply using a web host or blog service not completely under the writer's control might create such records.)

But, if you really want to prove authorship as of a certain date, you may want a timestamping service:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_timestamping

[+] jakewolf|16 years ago|reply
From copyright.gov FAQs

"Do I have to register with your office to be protected? No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work."

[+] gojomo|16 years ago|reply
Ultimately your only 'protection' is your willingness to enforce your rights against unapproved uses -- which very generally includes lawsuits, legal threats, takedown notices, and public shaming campaigns.

The paid registration is unlikely to deter anyone; it might be necessary if you have to sue someone, but even then, it's the suing, not the registering, that has teeth.

But mainly, you should resign yourself to the idea that someone, somewhere, someday will copy your publicly-shared work. The copying probably won't cause you enough damage to be worth prosecuting; only if your work has large economic value, and the copying diverts some of that value from you to the pirate/plagiarist, would vigorous enforcement be cost-beneficial.

[+] Zev|16 years ago|reply
I think that if you were to ask for attribution if anyone used or cited your work, most people would gladly do so. I have a feeling that the people that are likely to try and steal your work would do so, regardless of your copyright or license.

But, both of those thoughts are nothing more then my own personal opinions. So, follow them with the appropriate warnings.