A Website as Intellectual Property

Great minds think alike, and usually this is a good thing, but not so much when more than one person has the both the same idea and drive to see that idea come to life in a market you're interested in. As much as we would like to hold onto them, ideas cannot be protected. It is only the expression of those ideas that the law recognizes. This can be enough -- if you're first or you offer a clear advantage to using your product over your competitors'.

There are other bidding sites that have better customer service, easier interfaces, and certainly lower fees then eBay, but eBay captured the market early. Others got into the game late, and by then eBay was too well established for serious competitors that weren't offering anything unique.  Sometimes, however, even a well-established site or business succumbs to a competitor who simply does it so much better.

Blockbuster is a good example here. In 2004, Blockbuster had 8000 stores and millions of DVD and on-demand consumers. And then Netflix launched. More services for less money. They did the electronic portion of Blockbuster's business better, and Redbox killed off the rest. Similar ideas, different execution.

There are other websites that have attempted to seize the market in the past, but they've all failed to pick up any steam or a customer base. There aren't any that are the standard for the industry.  They are mostly clunky, not intuitive, and not attractive, and they end up failing. My plan isn't so much to protect my property, but to be the first industry-standard quality site of its kind. There's one potential competitor from the makers of RateYourMusic who have already established a loyal customer base and can advertise on their own site for a new project.  They are in closed beta after a successful crowdfunding campaign several years ago. Getting a quality product out quickly is essential for my success.

While a list cannot be copyrighted, a database can, and that's what my site will have. It will have its copyright notice and terms of service listed. Much of the information will be user-submitted, and their submission will assign that information to the company. Information will be able to be used, with attribution. In addition to advertising the site, this attribution on users' sites will help with SEO. The more links, the higher the ranking, the more users submitting data, the more links, the higher the ranking, the more users, etc.

The World Intellectual Property Organization has an excellent write-up on the specifics of protecting the intellectual property of a website. I've linked it here for accessibility.