Once you have your website online and have written all the copy for it be sure that nobody takes it away. If you have particularly good copy you can be sure that others with similar products or services to offer may find your site and try to use your copy.
The first thing to do to avoid thieves is to copyright your website. Always use the copyright words at the bottom of each page. You may also want to include verbiage such as “no part of this website can be used without the written permission of the owner”. While this alone can’t totally prevent someone from taking your words or pictures and using them as their own it can be somewhat of a deterrent.
You can also protect people from actually using the copy and paste features by embedding your copy or photos into the site. If you are using a web designer express your concern about copyright infringement and ask them to prepare the website so that it is as secure as possible.
Don’t be afraid to post content on your site for fear others will take it. If you are afraid of thieves try using special tactics for some of your more important materials. One such idea is to allow only those who sign up for your newsletter or register to your site to view certain pages of information. Another way is to provide some copy via newsletter. Of course, these still don’t prevent someone from taking your copy if they want to.
What should you do if you find out that someone stole your information and is using it as their own? First, be sure about what you found. If you see your exact copy being used on another site you can confront the person. Send them an email letting them know that your material is copyrighted and that they do not have permission to use it or post it on their site. Give them until a specific date to remove the material from their site. Often this is enough to scare the person into removing your material.
However, if they still don’t remove it you may want to take further action. You can consult with an attorney who specializes in copyright law. Be sure that you have a clear copy of your site in paper format showing the date it was written and posted. One way to ensure this is to mail a copy to yourself. Keep it, unopened, until it is needed as proof. The postmark will serve as the date it was copyrighted.
The first thing to do to avoid thieves is to copyright your website. Always use the copyright words at the bottom of each page. You may also want to include verbiage such as “no part of this website can be used without the written permission of the owner”. While this alone can’t totally prevent someone from taking your words or pictures and using them as their own it can be somewhat of a deterrent.
You can also protect people from actually using the copy and paste features by embedding your copy or photos into the site. If you are using a web designer express your concern about copyright infringement and ask them to prepare the website so that it is as secure as possible.
Don’t be afraid to post content on your site for fear others will take it. If you are afraid of thieves try using special tactics for some of your more important materials. One such idea is to allow only those who sign up for your newsletter or register to your site to view certain pages of information. Another way is to provide some copy via newsletter. Of course, these still don’t prevent someone from taking your copy if they want to.
What should you do if you find out that someone stole your information and is using it as their own? First, be sure about what you found. If you see your exact copy being used on another site you can confront the person. Send them an email letting them know that your material is copyrighted and that they do not have permission to use it or post it on their site. Give them until a specific date to remove the material from their site. Often this is enough to scare the person into removing your material.
However, if they still don’t remove it you may want to take further action. You can consult with an attorney who specializes in copyright law. Be sure that you have a clear copy of your site in paper format showing the date it was written and posted. One way to ensure this is to mail a copy to yourself. Keep it, unopened, until it is needed as proof. The postmark will serve as the date it was copyrighted.