Web Pages Are Copyrighted Copying Is Illegal According To International Law! Below is a summary made of exact quotes taken from relevant sections of copyright law "The Berne Convention, is an international agreement about copyright, which was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland in 1886." "Under the Convention, copyrights for creative works are automatically in force at creation, without being asserted or declared: an author need not "register" or "apply for" a copyright in countries adhering to the Convention. As soon as a work is "fixed", that is, written or recorded on some physical medium, its author is automatically entitled to all copyrights in the work and to any derivative works." "On March 1, 1989, the US "Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988" came into force. Since almost all nations are members of the World Trade Organization, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights requires non-members to accept almost all of the conditions of the Berne Convention." "The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty was adopted in 1996 to address the issues raised by information technology and the internet, which were not addressed by the Berne Convention." "The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty, abbreviated as the WIPO Copyright Treaty, was an international treaty on copyright law adopted by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996." "It ensures that computer programs are protected as literary works in its fourth article, and that the arrangement and selection of material in databases is protected in its fifth." "The rights granted to the owner of a copyright are clearly stated in the Copyright Act, Title 17 of the U.S. Code. The Act gives the owner of the copyright "the exclusive rights" to "reproduce the copyrighted work" and "to distribute copies ... of the copyrighted work" (Section 106). "Penalties include liability for damages suffered by the copyright owner plus any profits of the infringer that are attributable to the copying, or statutory damages of up to $100,000 for each work infringed. The unauthorized duplication ... is also a Federal crime if done "willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain (Title 18 Section 2319(b))." Criminal penalties include fines of as much as $250,000 and jail terms of up to 5 years." The information above is in the public domain and may be quoted, if desired. See It All -- Complete Website Contents Linens, Lace, Hankies, Home Decor, Etc. Etc.! updated 01/06/23