This is a Guest Article Written by Joe
Pawlikowski, Who writes and edits for several blogs, earning his living
through blogging and consulting.
You wouldn't walk into a book store and steal a novel off the shelf, would you? What about a magazine off the rack?
For most of us, physical theft is unthinkable. We wouldn't shoplift as
much as a candy bar, never mind a book or magazine. They don't belong to
us. If we want them, we have to pay. Just like everyone else.
So
why is it that people feel free to
steal content on the internet? How is stealing a blog post different
than stealing a magazine? In both cases you're taking something that someone else created. Yet people steal on the internet without a second thought.
People steal on the internet for two primary reasons. Kevin Kelly describes the first.
"The Internet is the world's largest copy machine. What the Net does is it copies things."
Copying is part of the Internet's DNA. Your site copies itself many
times, on archive pages. As you can imagine, creating a tool to copy the
internet isn't difficult.
The second reason: you can
access internet content from anywhere for free. Yes, you can access book
and magazines for free inside a store. We've all seen people sitting
down in a book store aisle reading a book. But you can't take the book
from the store without paying. With a blog, you can read it anywhere.
Hence, people are more apt to think that because it is free, it is also
free to take.
Let us be clear: it is not OK,
in any way, to take someone else's content. It belongs to them, just as a
book belongs to the store. (And the content belongs to the author or
publisher.)
Let us be clear on another point:
it is the owner's job to police theft. Book stores have security
measures that detect theft. Publishers seek out people reproducing
content without permission. Though they don't have the same resources
available, bloggers are responsible in the same way. If you want to
prevent people from stealing your content, you have to protect it.
Bloggers, Who are serious about ownership of their content will heed the following tips.
How to Protect Your Blog from Being Copied
Table of contents
- Put thieves on notice
- Mind your images
- Set up RSS footers
- Hire a monitoring service
- DO NOT prevent right clicks
- Conclusion
Put thieves on notice
When
people take content, do they even understand that they are stealing?
The internet's propensity for copying has blurred the concept of
ownership.
Information wants to be free, right? Sure. People want to be free too,
but that doesn't mean we don't demand wages for our labors. It seems
that people have confused the different definitions of the word free.
Still, this raises a relevant point.
If people don't think they're stealing, it becomes incredibly difficult to stop them.
Even the simplest of measures can deter thieves who don't understand
that they are stealing. Consider adding some of the following to your
site.
Copyright footer. These are
common and easy to add to your site. You can place the notice right in
your footer. © 2014 YourSiteName.com. It's that simple.
Note: make sure you keep the year up to date.
DMCA badge. The Digital
Millennium Copyright Act lays out pretty strict copyright rules for
digital content. No one wants to receive a DMCA takedown notice. Use
this WordPress plugin to place a DMCA badge in your sidebar, in a prominent position so everyone can see it.
Terms and Conditions page. The
problem with a copyright footer: many people will never see it. That's
why the DMCA badge is a nice addition. Another great addition is a terms
and conditions page. You can state, in no uncertain terms, that you own
the content on the site and that is not available for reproduction.
Don't know the legalese to create a T&C page? Check out this
T&C generator.
Trademark symbol. Did you know
that anyone can use the ™ symbol? It is not reserved for registered
trademarks. That's the ® symbol, which you absolutely cannot use unless
you own a federal trademark registration. If you didn't know that,
chances are many people also do not know that. (Even if you did know
that, it still holds true; most people do not know.) Slap the ™ symbol
on your blog title. It lends you a sense of authority and could deter
thieves.
Mind your images
Here's an
oddity about copying on the web. Many people know that copying text is
wrong. Teachers dedicate entire class sessions to plagiarism. They
remind students before every paper that it is wrong to steal other
people's words.
Because we didn't include images in papers, we never learned that it is wrong to steal them, too. Perhaps that's why
people
think it's OK to take anything found in a Google Images search and use
it. But just as copying and pasting text is wrong, so is using someone
else's image.
If this practice is so widespread,
how can you protect your own images?
If you host original photography on your site, it is in your interest
to protect it. Images have become paramount on the web. Yours gives you
an advantage, and you shouldn't give away that advantage to anyone else.
Here are some resources that will help you manage your website's images.
Preventing right clicks. If
you've scrolled down you already know that I don't prefer this method.
Right clicking on the web is natural. You can do much more than just
copy stuff with a right click. This WordPress plugin
prevents right clicks
only on images, so it's not as bad as blocking right clicks in general.
But it's still not preferable. Why treat your readers like thieves?
Watermark your images. If you work with Photoshop or Illustrator, watermarking your images is easy. You can even use a
WordPress plugin.
The downside: watermarking doesn't prevent theft. People will be less
likely to reuse a watermarked photo, at least. The problem is the
practicality. If you place a watermark in the corner, as the WordPress
plugin does, users can just crop it out. If you place it in the middle,
the image gets distorted.
Hotlink blocking. Sometimes
people get really lazy. Instead of downloading your image and uploading
it to their own servers, they will just link to your image. So not only
are they stealing your work, but they're taxing your server. How rude.
There is a WordPress plugin that
prevents other sites from hotlinking your files. I recommend this in general, beyond image protection.
Run image searches. If you have a handful of original images on your site, run them through
Google Image Search By Image
every so often. It can get to be a tedious task, especially if you have
a high volume of original images, but you can identify content thieves
on the spot.
So far
I've mentioned "people" who steal your content. Truth is, humans only
directly steal content in a fraction of instances. It is more common for
them to set up automated scrapers to steal your content. And someone
else's content. And someone else's. It's quite easy to steal massive
amounts of content.
The bad news: there isn't much
you can do to stop scrapers. There's no magic code that will send them
away from your site. You can put in place deterrents, but many of them
hurt your human readers. For example:
Truncated RSS feeds. Sure, they
might increase click-through rate. But if you go from a full feed to a
truncated feed, you'll upset your readers. Subscriber numbers will fall.
Is deterring scrapers worth hurting the people who enjoy your site?
If you're starting a new site, perhaps setting the tone with a truncated
feed will work. Even then, good scrapers can get by that. Back in the
days of Google Reader, there were plenty of plugins that could turn a
truncated feed into a full feed. You think scraper bots don't have the
same ability?
Unfortunately, another popular deterrent isn't much of a deterrent at all.
Add an RSS footer. Since the
late 00s bloggers have added some kind of RSS footer to their feeds. It
hasn't deterred many scrapers. The good news is that while scrapers can,
and often do, remove links from posts, they have a tougher time from
feed footers. Try a WordPress plugin
like this one. It's worth a try, at least.
You can try other methods, such as watermarking your photos.
This blogger
saw a reduction in the number of sites that would scrape his content
once he watermarked his images. As described above, watermarking isn't a
cure-all. It has its own problems. But if it deters a few scrapers,
perhaps it is a worthwhile practice.
Hire a monitoring service
Let's get real. If you want to
protect your content,
you will have to pay. No, this isn't some mafia-type job where people
steal your content and demand payment to stop. There are plenty of
services that can help you keep track of your content and put thieves on
notice.
Before you move on, this isn't for hobbyist bloggers.
If you don't make money from your blog, then you probably can't afford
to pay for a monitoring service. But if you're reading
BlogTipsNTricks.com, chances are you make money. If you don't, that's
your goal. If so, you have a huge interest in your content. Investing in
monitoring and protection will prove worthwhile.
You can try a few different options. I have my own preference, which I'll share in a minute.
Copyscape. If you want to know when people copy your content, you can sign up for
Copyscape's copy protection services.
It will cost you a bit: 5 cents per search, or you can sign up for
their weekly service. But again, if you value your content, you'll have
to pay some fee to examine duplicate usage.
Mention. An alternative to Copyscape is
alert service Mention.com.
It costs $30 per month for the business grade, which is what you'll
need. You can set up 10 alerts, which notify you when another website
has mentioned you. Set up certain phrases within your post, which you
know are unique, to see when someone has copied your work verbatim.
Virtual assistant. Here is the
most expensive option, but also the most useful. As you know by now, you
can outsource administrative tasks to a virtual assistant. It will cost
you a fraction of what you'd pay a full-time assistant. (And good luck
finding a part-time one who can do the job well.) An assistant can do a
more thorough job of monitoring stolen content. Unlike Mention and
Copyscape, a VA can find images, send out takedown notices, and file the
proper DMCA paperwork.
I prefer the virtual assistant path by a mile. I've enjoyed working with
Worldwide101 virtual assistants,
because they do more than admin tasks. Not only will they look for
stolen content, but they can take action. After all, what good is
knowing that people stole your content if you do nothing about it? A
good VA can draft takedown notices, file DMCA paperwork, and handle
outreach on your behalf. It might be more costly than Mention or
Copyscape, but the investment is worthwhile.
DO NOT prevent right clicks
Before
wrapping up, I want to impart one important lesson. Getting your
content stolen can be a frustrating experience. No one enjoys it.
Sometimes we can overreact and do things we'll later regret.
Please, for the love of your readers, do not prevent right clicking in general.
It's bad enough if you do it for images. If you prevent right click on
your entire website, I'm leaving. Many others are leaving. Not only are
we never coming back, but we're going to a competitor.
Even if you are unique in your industry, I'll find an alternative.
Barring right clicks is downright offensive. You're saying the only
reason to right click is to steal. That's ridiculous. Maybe I want to
open a link in a new tab -- so I can stay on your site. Maybe I want to
use the many plugins I have with right-click capabilities. Maybe I want
to do any of the dozen things you can do with right click that don't
involve copy and paste.
And
you know what? Maybe I want to
copy/paste a sentence to share. If you prevent me from sharing your
content except on your exact terms, then I'm not interested. There are too many sites on the web. I can spend my time in a million different ways.
Why would I spend it on your site, if you're treating me like a criminal the moment I visit?
Conclusion
No matter how much work you put into protecting your work, people and computers will steal it. The internet is a copy machine.
That's the nature of the beast. You can only accept it, and then take
measures to make it less harmful for your blog and your business.
(Though this should tell you a lot
about the nature of business on the internet. If you base your business
on things that others can easily copy, you might be in trouble.)
When you're starting out and small, undertake these tasks yourself.
Let people know that your content is not free to take. Use free tools to see who has used your content. Install the necessary plugins.
As you grow, you'll need more power. Sign up for alert services. Or
better yet, hire a virtual assistant to take care of that task. You'll
need some help anyway -- no one can do it alone.
Your content is your advantage in business. Don't let others take away your advantage. Stay on top of content theft.
