Say I started a business in 2005 called Sunshine Landscapes...and all I did was buy the domain name sunshinelandscapes.com and I started a website where I could sell my landscape photos but I also offered t-shirts or caps with Sunshine Landscapes on them for promo...
then, five or ten years down the line someone else comes along and starts a website called sunshinephotography and they buy that domain, sunshinephotography.com but they also buy rights, buy say copyright using that name...and they want to sell photography and also market t-shirts and caps as promo items...
can the company that came along later ask the older company to cease doing business under sunshine landscapes because in America or in europe they registered their name?...
I’m just wondering if legally the first company, sunshinelandscapes, has any rights because their presence, name, domain, products, etc. were on the internet for years before even though they didn’t register or copyright the name of their company and the products they sell?...
I guess I’m wondering if a person could buy another companies name out from under them?...I wonder if the law would see the company that came along later as a business that saw the first companies work, copied the idea, changed the name slightly and then tries to force that company out of business...because these days with the internet it's easy to do a yahoo or google search and see if someone is doing business under a certain name on the internet...
I keep reading things like this, below in bold, which suggest it's prudent to pay for registration, but not necessary if one can prove they own the name, art, whatever...I'd think with webhosts having dates about domain names, pages uploaded, etc. it would be relatively easy to prove who did what first...
ok, go ahead, tell me, I'm I being completely naive...am i uninformed?...can you point me at a site with simple english that explains how this stuff might work?...
thanks in advance...
"Why is it advisable to register a work?
If you have created a work which has value to you then you need to be able to protect it from being copied, stolen, or subject to other unauthorised use. To do this, you need to be able to prove that you are the rightful owner of the work. If someone else publishes your work under their name then they will be assumed to be the rightful copyright-holder, unless you can prove otherwise. Registering your work through the CRS provides independent third-party verification of your ownership of your work, helping to protect your rights and avoid lengthy and/or unsuccessful legal proceedings. By displaying the CRS seal on your work, you can also discourage potential plagiarists from misappropriating your work."
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. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”
