How to Copyright Content: 5 Proven Tactics to Stop Content Theft & Ensure Your Content Is Not Copied!

There is a crime that many do not really consider as such – treating content on websites or blogs as anonymous and using it at will! Because of this content theft is a common thing online and most times small content owners, like bloggers, are often the target.

According to Wikipedia.com,

“Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Generally, it is “the right to copy”, but also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other, related rights.”

Stop content copyright thievesUnfortunately, many are unaware of these content copyright issues while most of them deliberately rip off content from other websites/blogs and use it as their own. If you own a website or a blog – especially if it generates revenue – it is important that you take preventive measures to protect your content. The last thing you want to see is your content benefiting someone else more than you.

The following are some tactics on how to copyright web content and keep them away from content thieves.

1. Protect Your Content With Plug-Ins

The first preventive measure is to add protection plug-ins. Use RSS Footer and Antileech to make sure that even if your content is copied, you get full credit for it. These WordPress plug-ins either add your website link below your content, or spin it to make it look different. You should also disable the use of “right click copy paste” on your website to make your content difficult to be copied.

2. Include A Content Copyright Notice

Content thieves often target websites and blogs without a copyright notice. This gives them an idea that either the creator is a novice, or unbothered about his/her website's content being copied. Create a copyright notice mentioning what you allow and what you don't. Usually, it should state that the content on your website can not be used without your permission, and if used calls for legal action. If some websites use your content, they are liable to give you full credit for it. Let people know that you are aware of your rights.

3. Get A Creative Commons License

Your content copyright notice should scare most of the thieves away, but to be sure, get yourself a license. A creative commons license will legally make you the owner of your work, and can be used like a weapon if ever needed. If your website generates revenue, it's most important that you get your content copyrighted. The license would legally define what you are willing to share and what you strictly don't allow.

4. DMCA Protection

Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes all websites to adhere to the copyright laws. Register your website with DMCA and add their badge to your website to ensure the safety of your content. You can also buy the DMCA tool kit to find anyone using your content without your prior permission.

5. Protect Your Images And Other Documents

Image theft is also a common form of copyright violation. If the images on your website are your own – created by you or purchased – insert a watermark. People often search images through Google and copy the unclaimed ones. Placing a watermark is enough to warn them. It's an effective and reliable method to protect your images from being used for profit.

The above content copyright measures though simple are effective in preventing content thieves from copying your content without crediting you. Follow them and you wouldn’t need to be worried about your content being copied. Because even if is copied, the responsible person/company is liable to face legal action. Usually, reporting to search engines or web hosts is enough to sabotage any plagiarism or theft attempt. Just keep a track of your website's content using Copyscape.com and, make sure it is not misused.

Your comments and views on how to copyright content will be appreciated. If you support content copyright or not let us know in the comments below.

30 Comments
  1. Hi Alyssa,

    Really awesome tips to copyright a content. Alyssa You are right we can stop content Theft. But if anyone using our article and just give a reference link at the end of article than what will be your suggestion for them? Is it theft? I saw some article who are using my one or two paragraph and put my link for read more.

    Thanks
    ~ Amit Shaw

    • @Amit Shaw,

      If someone uses your article and attributes the authorship to you with a link whether at the top or bottom of the article, that is not content theft. However, if you expressly restricted the use of your content, e.g. allowing only references that have written permission from you, then such a person will be going against your terms and you can ask for apologies or outright removing of the content by the person.

  2. Alyssa, Thanks for the tips! I will have to apply these resources towards my online business.

  3. This is good article, Alyssa. It seems that by using these tactics one can stop content theft.

  4. I think Digital Millennium Copyright Act is the safest and the most useful from these tools although all of them are very important if we want to protect our blog content

  5. really a helpful article thought i didn’t face it till now but few of my friends have faced it many times, surely gonna suggest them…

  6. Giving credit to the source is not theft of course. In fact, one gets the benefit of backlink in that case 🙂

  7. Remember if you use any content from a blog it is imperative you add a link back to the original.Most bloggers actually don’t mind you referencing their blogs or posts as long as you link back.If you think your content is being copied the first step is to contact the Blogger if possible in a polite manner as their could be a valid excuse.
    Nice post and i am sure many people will like it as content copying has been a common problem for all.

  8. Image theft is quite common and many unaware users do it. I mean they simply search on Google and find suitable images as per their need. By using watermark can certainly give them warning and many unaware users won’t use it for their own purpose.

    • @Ravi,

      You’re tight Ravi, image theft is the greatest online. But again, because of the free nature of the internet if you want to restrict the copying of your images make this clear in your copyright statement.

  9. Hello Alyssa, I find your article very useful and thanks for sharing it to us. Anyway, there are a lot of thieves in the internet nowadays and they use to copy and paste other content which is not good. I just wondering that why there are such person like that.

  10. Very informative post. Get to know something new and very informative. Love to read more posts like this.

  11. Apart from image protections, you should also think about protecting your copy. Consider disabling a copy function and right-click function. Another way to disable copying the information is using flash content or font replacement for HTML pages. I prefer font replacement since your pages remain SEO friendly (in comparison to flash stuff).

  12. Wonderful blog! I truly love how it’s easy on my eyes as well as the info are well written. I am wondering how I may be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your rss feed which need to do the trick! Have a nice day!

  13. One main problem of bloggers nowadays is having their well-thought contents copied by someone else without even giving a credit to them. Disabling the right click function to prevent people from copying contents is definitely a good idea.

    Spatch

  14. The best is filing a DMCA on them.

  15. Hi Alyssa,

    I really hate those who are copying things without permission. But I still don’t agree with SOPA/PIPA. Thanks for posting this.

    • @Nancy H. Busch,

      Frankly, Nancy you have brought up an important issue. The problem of copyright is a big one online. But the way the SOPA advocates are going about it is something that will strifle the internet. I think this most be made clear.

  16. Content theft is a huge problem. The author’s rights should be respected! Thanks for your tips!There are very helpful!!

    • @Daniel, It’s more of a problem because of the free nature of the internet. We just have to find ways like the ones listed in the article to keep these content thieves at bay.

  17. amazing post Alyssa. i guess Including A Content Copyright Notice is more than enough.

    • @sunil,

      You really think so? There are many who will ignore that and copy your content any way. I think you will need to sometimes put your feet down whenever it happens.

  18. Reply
    Website Protection Service March 7, 2012 at 8:58 am

    Copyright is very useful to the business man and other important sites to protect

  19. I’ve felt reluctant about people copying my contents without due credits etc. Nice suggestions.

  20. most common problem is image theft because any one search google for image download it and directly start using before reading copyright terms and policy and even forget to give credit to.

    • @Arun Singh,

      You’re definitely right. And this is one of the problems that is cropping up on Pinterest. Many people are already using other people images without due credit. Besides, since most graphic online cannot be traced to any particular person because they have been circulated widely without crediting any particular person, it definitely means that copyrighting graphics will continue to be a problem.

      Thanks for the comment.

  21. Very useful to tips, I’m gonna register for DMCA, that is one of the best way to protect your content from getting copied by others.

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