Internet content rights may arise automatically when original internet content is published. Internet content authors and artists may enforce their rights by excluding others from copying their work or claiming it as their own pursuant to copyright laws. While said rights granted to internet content authors and artists are copyright protected, that protection does not extend to facts or ideas, though it may protect the way those facts and ideas are expressed in the internet content.

Original internet content is a work of authorship that is independently created by a human author and possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity, and may be found on the internet.

Internet publication of content can determine the value of content and in conjunction with registration (17 U.S.C. §409(8)) which court has jurisdiction over content disputes. Additionally, internet publication impacts the duration of copyright protection among other purposes including optimizing creative and ownership rights and the availability of statutory damages and attorney fees. Thus, it is important to determine when internet distribution constitutes publication.