Hoping Ain't Gonna Secure Your Content.
That W-W-W Dot Thing
When it comes to putting your work out on the internet, it becomes vulnerable to everyone who can see it. Most of the time this isn’t an issue, as there’s a lot of content posted for the sake of sharing, and many are polite enough to provide credit as to where they got it from. If not, however, there are legal methods you could pursue to equip yourself with better protection and prevent thievery of your creations. Content theft is mostly experienced by those who share their art online; many people are unaware of the laws and general rules of usage. Once a creation has been shared around to a certain extent, it can become almost impossible to find the source and original creator of it. All that’s left for you to find out is a particular style or signature.
Go Crazy On The Copyrighting
If you want to add layer of security to your content, having it copyrighted can be the perfect solution. There are many platforms where site hosts are very co-operative under these circumstances (YouTube), and with sufficient evidence, the stolen content will be removed. If you have difficulty finding out about protection like this, you can check out media law for more information. Some might not take it so seriously, but when it comes to theft of intellectual property; even if it’s a simple image, it can still be against the law.
It’s not always so simple as just getting copyright and preventing your content from being stolen, as you may have difficulty tracking down anyone breaking the rules of usage on your art. Most online artists suggest that it should only be for personal use, and no changes should be made. Many may abide this, but you simply can’t search the whole internet just to find those who don’t. If you do produce content like images and videos, including a watermark or your own form of signature that can’t be removed can help reduce that. Many people won’t have interest in a watermarked image, and most you have to pay just to get rid of it. It’s not completely bulletproof, but it’s one of the best and most popular solutions to cover protection.
Master The Art Of Manipulation
For those who are kind enough to share their creations with the world, there are great methods you can use to ensure people follow your terms of usage. Many content creators prefer when their works aren’t going to be manipulated or shared around, and there are systems you can put in place to limit who uses it. Some software allow you to encrypt files and folders, meaning that only those with a password can access it. Putting this in place means that you can limit the users to only the people you want to trust, therefore if it is shared, you know who it might have been.
Protecting your online content can be pretty difficult, which is why many creators would prefer to only share those in tight communities. There’s always someone online who doesn’t care if they ruin opportunities for others, so limitations like this need to be put in place to keep them out. Some may even attempt to make money from what you’ve made/sold, which is outright offensive, and almost like doing free labour for them!
