In my function, I encounter this certain confusion pretty frequently - clients (and adverse parties) seem to think that copyright applies to each a webpage and its domain name. But this belief is incorrect. Here's a rather simple, hassle-free way to don't forget it:
Copyrights are for Content material. Trademarks are for goods/services.
So, a client can claim a copyright in the content material written on a weblog, a web-site, and so on. But, you can't claim a "copyright" in the domain name that hosts your site: it's not definitely content material. It could be, however, a name linked to your goods or to a service that you deliver. If so, you can claim trademark rights in that name.
[Note that these rights commonly apply regardless of whether you register with the Federal government or not! But registration undoubtedly assists your arguments later on, if it comes to that...]
For further facts, the US Copyright Office web page has a document that explains in greater detail what type of items can get copyright protections, which includes literary, musical, and dramatic functions. And, likewise, the US Patent and Trademark Workplace (ordinarily abbreviated USPTO, or just PTO) has a document that explains trademarks in higher detail - it describes them as "a word, phrase, symbol, or style, or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods [or services] of one party from those of other people...." Each US state could possibly also present trademark or copyright registrations, usually at a lower filing cost, even though the usefulness of local registrations might not be good as federal registrations.
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