About copyright? Could you please tell me if I am correct.?

If it is truly and totally your own work, then you have sole copyright to it.

If you start with someone else's work and modify it, no matter how much, so that any of the original remains, the original owner still has copyright over the "derivative work".

As far as actually claiming copyright - you have the copyright to anything you write or print down. You cannot legally claim copyright on anything you have not registered with the US copyright office (obviously I'm talking for the United States here).

Creating a "stream of work based upon a website" would be a copyright infringement of the works you find on the website, as the copyright owners of the website own the exclusive right to make "derivative works", not to mention reproduction and distribution of their own works. It is not your right to "advertise" their site by making unauthorized use of their works, unless you can prove that you either have a license from them or your use qualifies under one or more statutory exemptions.

@Walter's answer is a bit inaccurate where it states "You cannot legally claim copyright on anything you have not registered ..." In fact, you can claim your copyright instantly and put copyright notice on YOUR creative works (not those of others), and you only need to register (in the USA) if you want to ENFORCE your copyright by suing someone in US federal courts.

It is true that there is no such thing as "copyright under international law", but perhaps you meant to say, "copyright under multi-national law", as defined in treaties and implemented in each country. Under the Bern Convention, for example, once you have a copyright in one country you may enforce it in any other country bound by the agreement under that Convention.

The only way to know you have "enough change" from an original document to avoid copyright charges is to show that you have extracted only the non-copyrighted "idea" and used none of the "creative elements" that were copyrighted in the original. You may also have some success in using non-copyrighted materials as your source (e.g., works of the US government, works published prior to 1923, or other works for which the copyright expired or never existed). Because such "public domain" works have no copyright ownership, you cannot possibly violate the copyright by using the originals in other ways.

Also note that there are many "exceptions" for certain "educational uses" in the copyright laws, such as 17 USC § 107 (fair use) and § 110(1) (non-dramatic music and literature in the classroom).

"There is no such thing as an

“international copyright” that will

automatically protect an author’s

writings throughout the world.

Protection against unauthorized use in

a particular country depends on the national laws of that country."

Endeavour to read whats on the links i put.