I am no attorney. I don't believe you actually need an attorney for what you want to do.
Having said that, I started my own company in 1998 and have learned quite a bit about legal issues.
1) Forming a company
You can start a NC Limited Liability Company (LLC) by registering with the NC Secretary of State:
http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/Corporations/
The fees are listed at:
http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/Corporations/feellc.asp
It's $125 to create the LLC. I think there may also be a fee of $250 for a certificate of authority - can't remember. Then, it will cost you $200 a year to file an annual report. You will also need to file a tax return for the LLC each year.
You will have to keep very good records about your revenues and expenses. I don't have any employees, but that is even more work.
NOTE that an LLC is NOT a corporation, but provides many of the same protections of your personal assets, in case you are sued. Creating a corporation is more complex. If you are a sole proprietor or partnership, then you can be sued personally. If you have a corporation or an LLC, then only the assets of the company are at risk for business purposes. You will need at least 2 people as owners to form the LLC - the other owner of my LLC is my wife - she is the CEO.
2) Copyright
In terms of Copyright, my understanding is that today, ANYTHING you create is automatically copyrighted for a very long time (50 years?). Previously, you had to include a copyright notice in any works you created - e.g. "Copyright (c) 2004 My Company". I don't believe this is required any longer, although I still include this line in every software module I create.
3) Website/Domain Name
The easiest way to get an Internet domain name is to go through your ISP or an independent registrar. I use www.godaddy.com - it's only $8 per year to register a .com domain name. Then, you can use www.zoneedit.com to get FREE DNS service.
Then you need to get a web hosting account at an ISP. If you want Java support, particularly JSP or EJB support, you have to find an ISP that offers these. I currently use www.rimuhosting.com - they offer a virtual Linux server using User Mode Linux (UML) on a Redhat 9, Fedora, or Debian machine (shared by 19 other customers), with your own JVM, JSP, EJB, JBoss, MySQL, Apache, Tomcat/Jetty, PHP, and much more for $39.99 per month. You can reboot your virtual machine, set up a mail server, set up a DNS server, etc. RimuHosting offers a LOT of flexibility. However, RimuHosting is essentially a one-man company. So far, so good, but I am a Linux newbie and the learning curves for setting up the servers has been pretty steep. Tech support by the owner is quite good, unless he is on vacation or gets run over by a bus.
Hope this helps.
Hugh Allen
President
DesignTec Software, L.L.C.
www.designtecsoftware.com
(sorry I haven't done much with this web site yet)
At 04:00 PM 1/30/2004, you wrote:
Anyone with an experience in launching a website under new company banner?
I am planning on launching a website and was wondering if I will have to start my own company for the copyright issues, etc.
Would muchly appreciate if anyone can share their startup experience.. and also of any good (and well, relatively less expensive) law firms in the Triangle area for doing this stuff?
Thanks,
John.
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