Domain names cannot be copyrighted, but they can be protected by other agencies. Copyrights only protect artistic creations. Websites and blogs can have copyright protection for original artwork displayed on them. ICANN provides registration for domain names and similar Internet identifiers.
In general, a domain name cannot be protected, even if there are other forms of protection that extend to domain names and domain names associated with works protected by copyright. The laws regarding how domain names and copyrights interact are fairly new, however, there may be changes to the way these policies have been established. Domain names are usually protected by other systems and in general a person can own a domain name but not in the same way that a copyrighted work is owned and protected. Even if you can’t copyright a domain name, you can still protect the contents of an Internet site.
A copyright protects an original artistic creation or work of art, such as a painting, written story, or computer software. Since a domain name is not an artistic creation, you cannot copyright a domain name, as it falls under a different form of intellectual property law. Likewise, you may not copyright the name of a character in a story or even the name of the story or of a book, band, song, or other artistic work. Copyrights protect works and artistic creations only, although you could potentially register a particular name for certain uses to offer some legal protections for use in business.
You cannot copyright a domain name because a website’s domain name is not considered a work of art. However, a domain name can be registered with other agencies to grant certain protections to the domain name. You could also potentially fight someone else over a domain name if its use violates a copyright you own, such as a domain name that clearly refers to a work you own through copyright. However, this can be very difficult to prove and it is often easier to prove trademark infringement than copyright infringement with respect to domain names.
Work appearing on a website may be protected by copyright. This means that if you create a website or blog where you post artwork that you create, you own the copyright to the original artwork that is displayed on your website. Since you can’t copyright a domain name, you also can’t register a domain name for copyright protection with a government agency. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), however, provides registration for domain names and similar Internet identifiers, and you may want to consider registering with ICANN for domain name protection.
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