Content is an asset in the digital landscape today. As a blogger, business, or creative professional, protecting your content from being copied is important to safeguard your brand integrity and receive the proper credit for your work. This blog will discuss proven methods on how to effectively safeguard your content from being copied.
Why do you need to Protect your Content from being Copied?
Content protection is critical for your brand’s integrity and the value for which you worked on it. You can easily apply several proven methods of protecting your copy from getting ripped off, whether you are a photographer, business owner, or writer.
7 Proven Strategies to Protect Content from Being Copied
1. Copyright Your Content
The most obvious form of content protection is copyright registration. Copyright gives you exclusive rights to the work, and you will be able to take action against anyone who infringes on a legal basis. In some countries, content automatically falls under protection at conception. In other aspects, though, registration is required for stronger legal protection in a few jurisdictions.
How To Do It:
- Understand the existing copyright laws in your country.
- Register for copyright protection with the relevant government authority.
- Display a copyright notice on your work.
2. Include Watermarks
On images and videos, include watermarks that will deter copycats from stealing your images and videos. A watermark is the semi-transparent display of your logo or text over the image or video, less appealing to anyone who will use it without permission from you.
How to do it:
- Create a simple, recognizable logo or text.
- Over-watermark your images and videos using graphic design software
- Ensure that the watermark will appear in a strategic location in your images and videos to be seen but not block any important content.
3. Content Policy
It is possible to create an easy-to-understand policy of content on your website which will inform users on what they can and cannot use of your content. A policy will detail restrictions placed upon copying, sharing, or repurposing work from you.
How to do it:
- Create a page on your site dedicated to your content policy.
- Outline specific uses allowed and prohibited.
- Encourage users to ask permission for anything outside of policy.
4. Disable Right-Click and Text Selection
Not that it would stop all thieves, but disabling the right-click feature on your website makes it a bit harder for your average user to copy your content. Likewise, not allowing text selection will prevent some from copying your text easily.
How to Do It:
- Use JavaScript to disable right-clicking on your web pages.
- Use CSS to disable text selection.
- These will be easily circumvented by the computer literate, so take them as part of an overall approach.
5. Use a Content Management System (CMS) with Built-in Protections
Many CMSs have security capabilities that will protect your information. A few allow permission settings when sharing your data, hide specific pages for access, or even log unauthorized usage.
How to do it:
- Select a Content Management System that has many security options.
- Browse around the add-ons or widgets that include additional protection mechanisms.
6. Plagiarism Monitor
Monitoring the web for instances of your content being copied should be done regularly. There are many tools that will help you trace down unapproved use of your work.
How to Do It:
- Use plagiarism detection tools such as Copyscape, Grammarly, or Plagscan to find copied content.
- Set up Google Alerts for your content’s key phrases so you can be notified if they appear elsewhere.
7. Use DMCA Takedown Notices
If you discover that someone has copied your content without permission, you can request the hosting provider of the offending site to remove the copied content. This is usually done by submitting a legal document known as a DMCA takedown notice.
How to Do It:
- Gather evidence of the copied content, including URLs and screenshots.
- Draft a DMCA takedown notice following the required guidelines.
- Send the notice to the hosting provider or website administrator.
Conclusion
You must safeguard your content through multiple layers. This is going to be achieved by providing copyright measures, watermarked usage, and technological support toward protecting your valuable work. Moreover, monitoring for unauthorized usage and educating your audience builds a respectful environment for content.
Remember that no protection is 100% reliable, but using all the above will greatly improve efforts to protect your content. Start taking proactive steps toward protecting your creativity today so that it remains yours alone! Thanksweb can help you with this.