On many websites there is a so-called copyright notice or copyright notice. This is intended to show that the graphics, images and texts used on the website are protected by copyright, i.e. they may not be used arbitrarily by third parties. This article shows whether such a notice is necessary at all, what risks it can entail and how it can be formulated in a legally compliant manner.
I. Legal Background: Copyright
Copyright protects “works” in the sense of intellectual and artistic achievements. However, not every work is protected by copyright. What matters is after § 2 para. 2 UrhG insofar as the work has a certain “height of creation” having.
This means that the work must have a certain degree of individuality and be the expression of a mental creative process.
If the work has the necessary level of originality, the law grants the author qua lege (i.e. automatically and thus without the need for registration, registration or approval) the copyright in the sense of an exclusive right to it.
originator is the creator of the work (so-called “creator principle”, § 7 UrhG), i.e. the natural person whose own intellectual achievement the work is based on. According to § 10 UrhG, it is assumed that the person who is referred to as the author in the usual way is actually the author of the work.
Copyright as an exclusive right entitles the author to decide on his own how his work is to be used. In this respect, he controls the distribution, duplication and marketing and is provided by law with defensive claims in the event that the work is used or reproduced without his consent.
The copyright defense claims include in particular
II. The Copyright Notice in Light of Copyright
Because copyright arises by law in a work of sufficient originality and does not have to be applied for or registered, copyright notices have no constitutive significance in the legal sense.
A copyright notice can therefore neither create a copyright nor increase its scope or protection nor be used to substantiate any copyright claims.
Conversely, a copyright does not lose its validity even if a copyright notice is missing.
A copyright notice is therefore purely declaratory, i.e. clarifying.
1.) Meaningfulness of a declaratory copyright notice
Even if the copyright notice cannot change anything about the existence and existence of copyright in the content of the site, it can be useful to include it for the purpose of raising the awareness of site visitors.
The copyright notice expresses that certain page content is protected by copyright and may not be used without copyright consent.
In this respect, it serves for educational purposes and can prevent behavior that violates copyright law and is based on ignorance of the legal situation.
In addition, its user expresses that they do not accept copyright infringement and, if necessary, achieves a certain deterrent effect against intentional infringements.
Finally, the presence of a reference can invalidate any presentation that there was no knowledge of copyright protection, which corresponds to proof of fault in the context of a copyright claim for damages (§ 97 paragraph 2 UrhG) is beneficial.
2.) Risks in formulation
While useful for educational and deterrent purposes where appropriate, a copyright notice carries its own legal risks related to the correct wording.
If the user claims protection for components of a website for which no copyright can actually exist due to a lack of originality, he is misleading about the scope of existing exclusive rights and possibly committing anti-competitive misleading.
This risk always exists when the disclaimer is extended to “all content of the website” or “all texts and designs of the website”.
III. Pattern copyright notice and correct placement
In order to prevent the risks of wording the copyright notice too broadly and thus extending it untruthfully to content that is actually not eligible for copyright, it is advisable to refrain from such general wording.
A legally secure copyright notice could therefore read as follows:
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Your benefits at a glance
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knowledge advantage
Access exclusive posts, samples and guides
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Protection against warnings
Professional legal texts – constantly updated
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Monthly cancellable
Protection packages with flexible term
The hint can be at will
- either only in the imprint
- either only in the footer of the website
- both in the imprint and in the footer of the website
being represented.
IV. Conclusion
A copyright notice (copyright notice) is purely clarifying in nature, but cannot affect the creation and scope of copyrights. It is therefore not absolutely necessary, but may make sense for educational and deterrent purposes.
If it is used, care should be taken to ensure that the wording does not claim copyright protection for page elements that cannot be protected.
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