user opens a webpage with a browser application, the user's computer retrieves data from the URL and the browser assembles, coordinates, and arranges the data for presentation as a screen display based on a set of layout instructions from the hypertext markup language ("HTML"], style sheet, or other markup language for that page. The actual content of the website may be embedded in the HTML code or may be contained in a file retrieved by the markup language.
A key element of a website is that the user can browse through the content on the site by scrolling through each webpage, by using internal hypertext links, or by using a search feature. This is in contrast to a database, which does not disclose the underlying content to the user but instead requires a search query to find and access particular information contained within the database that matches the parameters of each query.
For purposes of copyright registration, "website content" is material that is perceptible to the users of a particular website. This may include literary or textual works (such as news articles or literature) that are visibly displayed on a website, works of the performing arts (such as music, sound recordings, motion pictures, other audiovisual works and computer games] that are displayed or performed on a website, and two- dimensional visual art works (such as drawings, photographs, or illustrations] that are displayed on a website.
A work that is perceptible to the user only by downloading or separately purchasing that particular work is not considered part of the website for registration purposes and must be registered separately. Likewise, externally linked content [i.e., content residing on another website or another server] is not considered part of the website's content for registration purposes.
Hypertext consists of text or graphics displayed on a webpage that allow the user to link to other content or webpages. As a general rule, these links are dynamic addresses that redirect the user to a particular part of the same page (in the manner of a bookmark], another page within the website [i.e., an internal link], or an external website [i.e., an external link]. In some cases, the external link may be an "inline" link that presents the external content within a frame on the linking site [i.e., "framing" the content].
1002.4 Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
Hypertext markup language ("HTML"] is the standard markup language used in the
design of websites. HTML establishes the format and layout of text and graphics when a user views a website by instructing the user's browser to present material in a specified manner. HTML may be hand-coded, but it is often generated by web design software programs. For registration purposes, HTML code is not considered a computer program.
For a definition and discussion of computer programs, see Chapter 700, Section 721.
1002.2
Website Content
1002.3
Hypertext
Chapter 1000 : 5
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