Need HELP with domain and copyright

[stella7d]

I’m just a hobbyist with a passion for photography currently focusing on skills & knowledge. I’m wanting to purchase my own dot com with the thought of perhaps one day starting a small biz.

The domain name I want to use does not show up anywhere on the net, not even when you google it. I can buy a variation of the name but it will require me to use -- dash marks between the two words. I guess I don’t mind the dashes in the web addy, but wouldn’t want those dash marks added to my watermark brand, or printed as part of the biz name. Do I need to include those dash marks in my watermark or on biz cards??

Lets say I want to add a watermark to my images that reads ©Jane Doe. Do I need to copyright that?? Surely there are numerous Jane Does in the world who want to use their brand/name on their image. Does that need to be copyrighted just to add it to your photo?

Another example, if you google 'a slice of life photography' you get a page full of various people using that name, and that domain in one form or another. Is each person required to register for copyright? 
Am I confusing copyright with branding??

I was up all night reading about copyright online and I’m SO confused!
Plus I’ve spent hour & hours reading this forum and others looking for an answer, and I need some help! I feel like such an idiot!

Am I making this more complicated than it needs to be? Or is it really this complicated?

TIA to anyone who can offer me some help!

Have a great day!

[ReenaG]

I can't answer all the questions as I am not too sure I am understanding what you are asking...

but for the domain name: let's say you wanted: mydomainname.com and it was taken but you can use mydomain-name. com. On your website you could use 'my domain name'.... but if you are wanting your website name on business cards you would have to use the dash ' - ' as how would anyone find you otherwise?

There are tons of names that are the same (for photography) many people just used their names as the website address and then the name of the 'studio/company name' is different and is just listed on the website. some people had the name of the company as the website address.

hope that helps a little.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by stella7d

Lets say I want to add a watermark to my images that reads ©Jane Doe. Do I need to copyright that?? Surely there are numerous Jane Does in the world who want to use their brand/name on their image. Does that need to be copyrighted just to add it to your photo?

Another example, if you google 'a slice of life photography' you get a page full of various people using that name, and that domain in one form or another. Is each person required to register for copyright? 
Am I confusing copyright with branding??

1: You don't have to copyright the ©YourName because, well it's your name. You create copyright when the photo is taken. Yes, there are likely other people with the same name, but the images come from your camera and, should there be dispute, there are other ways besides name to determine who owns which photo.

2: Each person is required to register their domain name, but again, copyright is assigned upon creation. They can all claim "A slice of Life Photography" as a business name, though which ones are registered (as a BUSINESS) is different. In these cases, it becomes trademark and doesnt concern the actual photos but the name of the business itself.

You're complicating things beyond belief.

[stella7d]

Thank You ReenaG!!
Thank You OsmosisStudios!!

My original understanding was just like how you both explained! But then on another site they told me I needed to file a copyright for my domain name and I was like So I stayed up all night reading the material they referenced and I was more confused than ever!!

I really appreciate you both helping me!!!

Have a nice day!

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by stella7d

I needed to file a copyright for my domain name

I fail to see how that's possible. You can trademark a name, which is likely what they meant, and you can register a business name, which is another form of ensuring it's yours, but the scope of these institutions varies depending on where you live and how things are registered.

In North America, a business is usually registered at a state/province level, or at the national level. In the first case, someone can register the same name in another state, and in the second case, anyone can register the same name in another country.

When you work around with domain names, you introduce things like Search Engine optimization (SEO) which work together WITH your domain name to differentiate you from another business with the same name. In such cases, you use tags in the website markup (the code) to indicate keywords (your location, YOUR name, etc) that can differentiate you from others.

[Rina Minca]

Thank you all. I alos wanted to know this stuff and got really confused, so thank you stella7d for asking. I learned.

[theArchitect]

It depends on where you live but generally you can't copyright a name but you can get a trade mark providing it's not a common word/name. Trade marks are usually on a per-industry basis - i.e. a photography business and bakers could use the same name.

You can have a company name the same as some other one providing you do not infringe their trade mark. As with all intellectual property issues, there is no clear answer and you probably won't find one on the internet. The best way is to talk solicitor/lawyer who is spe******t in this area and who can help you set up any paper work. Having said that, many people/small businesses just set up business anyway and deal with any disputes when/if they arise.

With regards to domain names, if your desired domain is taken (do a check with a domain registrar online), you can:
> use a different name
> contact the owner and ask if they are willing to sell it (find their contact info via a whois search or look on their website)
> wait until their domain name registration expires (again detailed on the whois info)

With regards to trade marks, the regulatory board for the particular domain type (.com, .co.uk etc.) will usually side (sometimes wrongly) with the trade mark owner if there is a dispute - meaning you could lose the domain.

With regards to dashes - avoid them. They just make it harder to tell people your web address as people assume there are no dashes.

[Sobriquet]

the architect...hmmm Hot Cakes Photography, Bun in the oven Photography / bakery

Ok back to being serious....I do know of a business (not photography) where the opposition purchased the other business' name as a url but without the .au so if people missed out on the .au it went to the competitions website.

Just a thought on why it might be good to own all the common ones like .com .net .biz etc.

I too recommend that you make your url as simple as possible. Avoid anything that could be confused like dashes and underscores. Once you own the domain no one else can take it until your time runs out and you haven't renewed it and it is released again.

Word of warning on checking if yours is available, I did this once to see if the one I wanted was there and it was without a problem. When I was ready to buy it a couple of weeks later, someone had purchased it and was offering to sell it to me for a few hundred dollars. Everything you type over the internet is saved in cyberspace and I believe that the company was collecting the url's people searched, bought them to make a profit when they came back to buy. So don't check until you are really ready.