Well, I'm planning to write a few articles based on Basketball right now, and I'm just wondering, what can I do to help stop people ripping my work? Because you know I can just write an article, put it up for sale, and then someone else can copy it word for word and say that they are the original writers. How exactly can I prove to buyers that my articles are unique and I actually wrote them? Thanks
If you plan on selling articles then why do you want to put them on a website ? Before someone "pays" you , they will reproduce it ... If you are selling articles then you and the buyers are the only ones who saw the article . A search for the article will not show up results until the article is purchased by a buyer and put up on "their" website .Meaning it is yours . Which part do you want to protect here ? Regards jeet
I was going to ask the very same thing. Although, I'm not writing about Basketball and I'm not looking to sell any of them... at least not yet. How does one go about maintaining the rights to original articles once posted on the internet? Do I need to copyright? Is it automatically considered an original work done by whoever publishes on the net first? I hope I'm not bogarting your thread Gayble - I just was wondering the same thing
I have a copyright notice on my sites, more because everyone seems to than because I know of any specific benefits that accrue under the copyright laws from having one. If you put some highly unusual or unique phrases in the document, you can search for those via Google later, and catch anyone who has lifted it. There also are services that will, for a fee, spider the net to see if anyone has lifted your stuff. The tough question is what practical and affordable steps you can take when you catch someone in Indonesia or Nigeria copying your stuff.
That's understandable Ray... Then maybe something can be written in a way that either doesn't allow someone to copy/lift it off the page or at least automatically source the original writer?
No one is going to bother retyping your article if it was on an image with see-through copyright images. check this out, just made it... I hope its an idea... ALSO... i think you can provide sample paragraphs, and provide such image for full reading PRIVATLY... I hope this helps
The only way you can stop someone from ripping off your work is to not produce it in the first place. Take it from someone with over a decade experience in the content production arena on the Net--move along. Don't spend so much energy being scared that you limit your growth potential. Perform whatever measures you can and keep moving. I have had others violate my copyrights so many times, I lost count. When it happens, take prepared countermeasures, but don't let it kill your positive energy. The better you are, the more it happens.
True enough and great advice. But the question still remains... What reasonable measures can be taken? For example I've been to websites that won't allow copying of pics or text. How its done I'm not sure but I've seen them. Now, is it really worth the time, effort, expense? I don't know.
Do you mean the right click disable? If so, that's (last I checked) javascript and only works with certain browsers (MSIE I beleive). I could be wrong because it's been some time since I messed with that stuff. Bottom line, if someone wants your content, they are going to take it. I have not seen anything that would stop one from taking a picture off your website. If all else fails, do a screen shot and edit. By measures, I also mean having form letters ready and sending them out as needed.
The right click disable doesn't do much, you can just click View -> Page Source in FireFox to get past that..
With regard to photos, it is worthwhile to watermark them with your URL. It can be reasonably discreet, and it lets you know if someone else has lifted your images. I know of a fairly prominent ecommerce site that was accused (don't know if the accusations were true), of downloading a competitor's descriptions and images into a database and using them as the basis of their site. Supposedly, it was the watermarks on the images that gave them away and provided the proof underlying the subsequent lawsuits. Someone lazy enough to steal your images is also generally too lazy to photoshop out the watermarks, and this gives you the proof you need to go after them.
Yea, but they still steal them. The OT was how to stop them from doing so. Also, I would think trying to stop someone in the Eastern Block or India would be a challenging task. I agree with the lazy people, but not all thiefs are lazy. Many steal because it saves time and money. Someone could take your photo and clear it up in less than 10 seconds in PS CS 2.
The watermark can help, but someone can always use the crop tool if the watermark isn't too close to the subject.