- Can I Copyright A Design
- Can I Copyright A Website
- Can I Copyright A User Manual Free
- Can I Copyright A User Manual 2016
- Can I User
Can I copyright my website? The original authorship appearing on a website may be protected by copyright. This includes writings, artwork, photographs, and other forms of authorship protected by copyright. While copyright laws limit how protected works can be used, they also make allowances to ensure that protected works may be legally used for many purposes, even without the permission of the owner of the copyright. The company you work for may have a policy on copyright infringement.
If you are conducting research on a product or service, you may reference a user manual or instructional guide in your paper. Whenever you reference a source in your work, cite it properly so your reader knows where you found your information. In American Psychological Association, APA, style, user manuals are cited as part of a product's information.
Reference List
When you cite any information that is packaged with a product, the company is listed as the author, along with the year the product was made and the location of the company. APA formats this information like this:
Company name. (Year). Product name: Type of product info. Publisher location: Publisher.
Because the publisher is the company, the company's location will be listed as the publisher's location, and the publisher will simply be listed as 'Author'. For example:
Staples. (2014). Screen cleaning set: Instruction manual. Framingham, MA: Author.
User Manuals With Authors or Outside Publishers
When a product's user manual lists an author, list the author of the manual in place of the company name in your reference list citation:
Gates, B. (1995). Windows '95: User Guide. Redmond, WA: Microsoft.
If a user manual is published by an outside publisher, that publisher information is listed in place of the company information under 'publisher':
General Mills. (2002). Cheerios chess: Instructions. Seattle, WA: Wizards Games.
Citing a User Manual Found Online
If you are citing a user manual that you found online, include a link to the site from which it was retrieved:
Company name. (Year). Product title: Type of product information. Retrieved from URL.
For example:
Blizzard Entertainment. (1998). Starcraft: User manual. Retrieved from http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/misc/StarCraft.PDF.
In-Text Citations
When you reference or quote a user manual in the text of your paper, include an in-text citation to show where the information comes from. The in-text citation will include the author name of a source -- in this case, the company name -- the year of publication and the page number, if applicable. For example:
The product kit includes a screen cleaning solution, microfiber cloths, and a 'stain light' to check for scratches (Staples, 2014).
Windows users were instructed to troubleshoot and only reboot their computer as a last resort (Gates, 1995, p. 12).
If the author name or date of publication is included in the leading sentence of a reference, you do not need to include that information in your in-text citation. For example:
Can I Copyright A Design
Blizzard describes Starcraft as being open to multiplayer formats such as 'Melee, Free for All, Greed, Slaughter, and Capture the Flag' (1998, p. 11).