Re: FN-FORUM Online material rights and ownership

date posted 17th January 2001 14:38

At 14:02 17/01/01 , you wrote:
>Anyone know anything about ownership of ideas on the internet or anywhere
>I can find out about this sort of thing?
>
>Ie if I have an idea for a site, can I stop people from copying me or
>stealing my fire?
>

In a word, "no".

There are heaps of things you can try, most of which are very expensive,
and will not stop
somebody somewhere from changing your idea a little bit and marketing their
own version of it.

If you have a good idea for a site, the best thing to do is to exploit it
and get a name for
yourself before somebody else does. If you don't tell anybody about it
until you go live, then
you will have a good initial period in which to build a brand for yourself.

But don't forget that *however* good your idea is, you won't succeed
without a sound business
model.... So get to work on those cash-flow forecasts... And if you're a
'techie', then find yourself
a business partner who isn't....