How to protect copyright on large web applications?

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+3 Q:

How to protect copyright on large web applications?

Recently I have read about Myows, described as "the universal copyright management and protection app for smart creatives". It is used to protect copyright and more.

Currently I am working on a large web application which is in late testing phase. Because of the complexity of the app there are not many versions of it online so copyright will be a huge issue for me as much of the code is in JavaScript and is easy copyable. I was glad to see that there is some company out there that provide such services, and naturally I wanted to know if there were people using it. I did not know that this type of concept was so new.

Is protecting copyright a good idea for a large web application? If so, do you think Myows will be worth using, or are there better ways to achieve that?

Update: Wow, there is no better person to have answered this question like the creator himself. There were some nice points made in the answer, and I think it will be a good service for people like me. In the next couple of weeks I will be looking further into the subject and start uploading my code and see how it works out. I will leave this question up because I do want some more suggestions on this topic.

Their thing seems geared more toward images and text. I don't think it would be effective for computer software. I don't think it would be practical for images either, unless everybody was using it.

Chris Thornton 2010-04-11 18:21:45

Can you explain why you made these statements?

Saif Bechan 2010-04-12 00:22:53

"Who should use Myows?Photographers, writers, designers, artists, journalists, bloggers"It's right on their site.

Chris Thornton 2010-04-12 01:43:24

Also, IMO, this seems to be the modern-day equivalent of sticking your CD, Cassette tape, printout, manuscript, photo, etc., into an envelope and sending to yourself via registered mail. Not a bad idea, certainly. And useful for things such as defending against patent lawsuites if you can claim prior art. Probably not useful if you're looking for someone to prowl rapidshare for illegal copies of your software.

Chris Thornton 2010-04-12 01:49:47

I think you are missing the point. First off on the website it says: "Who should use Myows? Photographers, writers, designers, artists, journalists, bloggers and anyone who creates copyrightable work". If you want to quote you should do it correctly. There are some code examples also found that you can implement in the source code, so it can be definitely used for source code. Further I think this is mostly for web applications, and not to protect against rapidshare, lol. I think this can help you if you see basically the same web application online as yours.

Saif Bechan 2010-04-12 09:43:22

+6 A:

I'm honored that Myows is being mentioned here. I'm Max, the designer behind the app. I thought I'd stop by to clarify a few questions you may have:

original code, just like poetry or photography, carries copyright. If someone steals your code, you are entitled to ask them to Cease and Desist or pay up a licensing fee. Myows is geared towards photographers, writers, music producers and programmers alike.
in some instances, if you are a very public company, it is easy to prove that you were the original creator of a particular piece of code.
in other instances, we realized there were no simple recourse to prove that you were the creator of the work, and that's why we decided to create Myows.
on top of that, Myows allows you to store all your contracts, wireframes and revisions in one place, and will assist you in having copies of your work removed by automating the DMCA takedown process.

There's a lot more you can do with Myows and in it's 5 months of existence, Myows has helped over a dozen programmers have copies of their work removed. In fact, Themeforest has recommended that their authors upload their code and designs to Myows. So it's a movement in the making and we are working hard at creating a solid solution to the rampant copyright theft on the internet.

I'd like to ask Chris in the nicest manner what would a good reason be not to use Myows? It's free and it will only take you a minute to upload your code. In my personal opinion as a web designer, some protection and legal guidance for you and your clients is always better then none and a Myows certificate will be accepted in courts of law in 160+ countries.

Finally, we have released a couple of days ago our API and welcome all suggestions for improvements, I'm sure there are ways to improve the experience of protecting code and we'd love to see how the community would tackle that.

Anyway, I hope I'm not coming across as spammy or trying to sell you a used car, but I believe that Myows is a really useful app.

Max 2010-04-11 20:39:29

I still have a small question. For further assistance I will check the website or contact Myows personally. This is really quick. How will this checking of copyright take place. 1) Do you check if such a code already exist in your database when uploading? 2) Do you only work with tips, for example when I file a complaint or similair. 3) Is there some other method of checking this.

Saif Bechan 2010-04-11 21:27:35

1/ yes we do, but it's still in development and can only detect exact matches (so not quite applicable to code). The onus is still on you to find out when people have copied your work.2/we are not an enforcement agency, we have been called a DIY legal department for freelancers. We provide the tools for you to fight back and build a case against the infringers you discovered in 1/ (I think the video on the home page explains more about that).3/Not too sure what you mean? We don't have any detection systems in place if that's what you were referring to. But anything is possible in future

Max 2010-04-11 21:46:38

Good points Chris, I have to agree with you and appreciate your insight. We don't crawl shareware sites and try to remain focused at what we do. We should also change the wording on the homepage, but it is hard to include everyone without looking like the yellow pages!

Max 2010-04-12 02:38:24

I know you don't yet have 50 rep to leave a comment, but this isn't an answer and should be a comment.

Roger Pate 2010-04-12 05:30:51

It was all quite clear to me, I think the information given on the website is enough for everybody to understand. I asked this question not to understand the concept, but to get some feedback from users that have tried the services. It is always nice to hear what people say that have first hand experience.

Saif Bechan 2010-04-12 10:12:21

There is a similar company/website called Copyscape who's product and purpose is to help you find out if someone else is copying your website. Apparently, it is best for finding similar content (words and pictures), but I can't comment on how it does with JavaScript, CSS layouts, etc., and their FAQ doesn't mention it. May be worth a look...

ewall 2010-04-15 21:01:13

Yes this is just for finding different content. However it does not provide a way to upload your code and you can not prove you are the original creator of the code;

Saif Bechan 2010-04-16 11:44:59

ansaurus

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How to protect copyright on large web applications?

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