Copyright Surrounding HTML Coding

[ericpan]

So I've recently been learning HTML from W3school to develop a website. I have next to no previous web design experience, so when I needed, for instance, a box around my text, I would find a similar thing on the tutorials and copy the code they use in the "in the try it yourself" section. Is this allowed in terms of copyright? I'd prefer if a moderator or someone associated with W3school could comment on this. If there is a copyright infringement, then how would I be able to make it not? If I wrote the code myself, but it looked very similar to W3's coding because I'm learning from them, is this still an infringement? Thanks in advanced.

[justsomeguy]

While it's true that the Berne Convention grants a copyright as soon as an author creates a work, something needs to be original in order for a copyright to hold. If I write and publish this: <div style="border: 1px solid black;"></div> Then that doesn't give me a copyright claim over everyone using the same div. It's not original for me to create that. An entire website layout can be considered an original work (assuming it is actually original and not just a template or something that you used), but if you're trying to claim copyright over individual pieces of code then you're in for a difficult legal battle. Aside from that, a tutorial site that exists to show people how to create various things isn't going to assert copyright claims if people use those. It's like this forum, if I post a giant piece of code, even if it's an original work of mine, I would have a hard time trying to press a copyright claim against someone for using it. Posting it on this forum seems to imply that I am waiving certain rights. If I didn't want someone to use it, then I wouldn't post it.

[ericpan]

Thanks justsomeguy! My first time creating a website for someone, so I guess I was a bit paranoid about the copyright stuff.