The bottom of the main page is a good start, or an "about" page if available.
No; copyright would protect an author, and patent would protect an inventor.
You will find that most material on websites is protected under copyright. The website owner should be able to tell you who the copyright owner is. You would then negotiate a price with the copyright owner to allow you to use their material.
No, that would violate copyright laws.
Ask the copyright holder for permission.
It depends on the specific language of the contract between the author and the publisher.
In the case of a work-made-for-hire, the copyright would be controlled by the entity that caused the work to be created, rather than the creator. A photographer under contract to a magazine, for example, would not have copyright for those photos.
All the necessary information is available at the US Copyright office website at http://www.copyright.gov.
That would be a copyright
You would be violating copyright laws if you watched a recent film on a free website.
The short answer is, you ask the copyright holder. The long answer is, it depends on the type of work, and your proposed use. For some uses, you can get a blanket license from a royalty collecting society that will cover thousands of works for a given period of time. For others, you will need to negotiate directly with the rightsholder for a license, which will be very specific to your use.
You would need permission from the creator or rightsholder to use any content that is not yours. This includes putting it on a website, or taking it from a website.
Not necessarily, but if you are using a nickname or pseudonym for publishing, it would be worthwhile to note that in the copyright registration.