Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

Internet Page Name and link Copyrights

I have several questions on the subject of Internet page copyrights.

I would like to create a reference web site and I have a name in mind for it. I checked to see if any web sites appear with the same name in several search engines and I haven't found any. Also, no URL (internet address Ex: NameHere.com) exists for the title as well. The internet domain name is also available. I'm hoping to generate income after posting the page through advertisers.

1) Must I get a copyright for a web page title?

2) How can I determine if there's an existing web page with the same title?

I would like to collect links from other internet sites and paste them to my page for reference purposes. By doing so:

1) would this be a violation of the copyright laws? For Example, would it be a copyright violation to copy 10 Law links at one site, 30 at another site, etc on the net and paste them to my site under my own category called "Law Links"? I read somewhere that a link is a URL which is not copyrightable. Is this true In the case of collecting them and placing them on my page for my visitors to access?

Any advise you have in this area would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your help!


Asked on 3/10/99, 10:20 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Press Chung & Press, P.C.

Re: Internet Page Name and link Copyrights

The first question, re the page name, is a trademark issue. You do not have to register a trademark, but it gives you additional protections not available under common law/state law. How to determine if there's another web site w/ the same title? Not a legal question, but try the search engines. If you want a thorough trademark search, there are several firms who do this, the biggest of which is Thomson & Thomson. See a TM lawyer.

The second question, re links, is a copyright question. A URL is not copyright-protected per se. Most authorities hold that linking to someone's site does not infringe the copyright in that site, since you are not copying, and while you are inducing others to copy to their computer memories, such copying is impliedly licensed by posting the page to the web. There is some authority that linking through frames infringes, as does linking to interior pages of sites. If you do either of these, it's best to get permission (although I don't think these infringement theories hold water, better safe than sorry).

As for using others' compilations of links, that could infringe. While a URL doesn't infringe any more than a word does, a collection of words (i.e., an article or book) is obviously infringed if copied. Same with a collection of data. If assembling the links included creative work on the part of the author, it is potentially subject to copyright protection. Better to create your own lists of links.

Daniel Press

Chung & Press, P.C.

6723 Whittier Ave., Suite 302


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Answered on 3/11/99, 9:56 pm


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