However, if you were to post that same Multimedia encyclopedia CD as a Web page, the copyright protections inherent in the individual elements of the work would probably be less obvious to the casual browser. The reasons for this discrepancy are both psychological and technological. In the same way, a Web page may be protected as a whole product. However, the technology of the net poses special problems. In a CD-ROM, the design is a given.
All users see basically the same thing, with possible variations due to video adapters and displays.
On the Web, different browsers will display the same Web page differently. Additionally, people can modify their browsers to alter or modify the way Web pages are displayed. However, the underlying design of a Web page consists of a certain arrangement of such elements as text, graphics, audio, video, VRML, etc., and as long as that arrangement is original and non-trival, then the design of the page will be protected by copyright.