I started this website so budding authors (amateur or pending professionals) could have a place to share their stories and prove "first published" copyright date.
The Internet Archive (sometimes known as the "Wayback Machine" is a web archive service whose intent is to "back up the web".
Why does this matter here?
First, their servitor bot travels the web, following links from site to site, archiving all it finds.
Individuals can request a web page be archived (via this link).
Secondly, all content archived by the Wayback Machine is considered evidentiary class by several of the world's governments. This means that the timestamp applied when a web page is archived is considered "sworn testimony" should its presence in a court case be desired.
So, (and I am not your lawyer) if one were to write a story and publish it here on Stories, then visit the Wayback Machine and request its archiving, they'd have legal proof of first publishing that could be used if needed in the future.
Knowledge is power, folks. Keep learning!
To archive a web page with the Wayback Machine: https://www.archive.org/web
Archive.is is an archival service not based in the United States & so is beyond the reach of the DMCA (or other US laws).
Q: What does the DMCA have to do with anything?
A: The DMCA is not a well-written law, and has been abused to cause the removal of archives from the Wayback Machine.
List of web archiving initiatives - Wikipedia (Not all of these may be useful for you)
More reading: Archive.org's Wayback Machine is legit legal evidence, US appeals court judges rule - The Register
