The internet was built on content creators who invested energy and time into original work. According to some sources, content copying has acquired the status of a pandemic. It violates people’s rights and discourages them from creating new content.
Any unique content you’ve posted online is legally yours under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This means anyone who copies it is breaking the law. Copyright violation also extends to taking a picture from your blog and posting it elsewhere.
Defining Fair Use of Content
Under the DMCA, anyone who materially misrepresents activity or material with intent is liable for all damages incurred through such infringement, including court costs and legal fees. The infringer is also responsible for damages inflicted on a service provider as a result of the latter’s reliance upon misrepresentation in disabling or removing access to the activity or material claimed to be infringing, not disabling access, or replacing the removed material.
Copyright Notice
You need to ensure maximum plagiarism protection to prevent your content from being copied. This protection includes adding a copyright notice in clear view. You can use a text widget to place the statement in your sidebar, where all your visitors can see it. Depending on your website type, the copyright notice’s wording should be different.
Lock Content
If your site is on WordPress, adding a content locker is an excellent way to protect the content. It will also increase the number of your social media followers and subscribers. By locking quality content, you’re giving visitors to your site a reason to subscribe to your email list or share your content.
You’ll learn how to lock content in WordPress in a few easy steps. The exact approach depends on your goals. You can ask for an email to unlock it if your goal is to grow your email list.
You can add four main content lockers: password protection pages, social locker, membership sites, and an opt-in locker for WordPress.
You can lock content using the platform’s inbuilt password protection. With social locker, your visitors can access your content only by agreeing to share it on social networks.
It’s possible to limit access to members-only by setting up a membership site. Finally, WordPress’s opt-in content locker mandates users to register for an email list to access the content. It’s the best option for most people who are trying to find an easy way to grow their subscribers.
Display Post Recaps via RSS
To include an extra layer of protection, you can set your RSS feed up to show post summaries. This setup will deter content scrapers from obtaining material via RSS feeds. However, it might also harm your readability.
Set up Google Alerts
These alerts can scan for the name of your site or your own name. All you need to use this service is a Google account. You’ll be notified of search results by email once you set Google Alerts up. In addition, you can perform a simple Google search to detect illicit use of your content. Enclose the text you’re searching for in quote marks for more exact results. You can file a notice under the DMCA if you find out that someone stole your content.
Use Copyscape
You can use Copyscape to save time on these searches. You might choose to opt for automatic web monitoring and other paid services.
Add a Watermark to Images
To protect images on your site from being stolen, you might consider adding a watermark to them. The watermark will establish you as the source. Yet, it won’t be a complete deterrent to theft.
