These days, having an online presence is all but essential to having a thriving career as a creator. Unfortunately, this approach does come with some downsides, including the risk of potential infringement. Every time you share your text, images, or designs online, there’s a chance someone will use or distribute them without your permission.
Not sure how to protect your creative work online? Here are three practical precautions that will help you defend yourself against theft and infringement.
- Register Your Copyrights
Though copyright is automatic in the U.S., you should still register your copyrights. Doing so will allow you to file a lawsuit to enforce your copyright, as well as claim attorney fees and statutory damages if your case goes to court. If registering a copyright for everything you create is unrealistic, focus on registering things you intend to monetize or just want to protect.
As a creator, you can also put a copyright notice on everything you make. This notice should include your name, the year you created your work, and the copyright symbol (©). This won’t prevent someone from stealing your work, but it makes it clear the law is on your side.
- Watermark All Images
Another way to let potential wrongdoers know your work is protected is to put a personal watermark on all images you create. This involves inserting your name, logo, or other ownership details onto the image. Placement of the watermark plays a key role here: if it’s too small or tucked to one side, it will be easier to remove it from the image.
One way to make the watermark harder to remove is to tile it, i.e. create a horizontal light mark tiled across the entire image. Of course, this is more likely to distract from your image, so you’ll want to tread carefully. Also, keep in mind that, even if someone does remove your watermark, you’ll be able to issue them a DMCA takedown notice.
- Track Your Content
Thanks to reverse searching tools, it’s fairly easy to monitor any text and images you post online. For images, you can use a dedicated reverse search service like Tineye or run an image search on Google, Yahoo, or Bing to find exact matches. For written content, insert quotation marks to search for any specific phrases from the text you want to protect.
Keep in mind that some websites (social media in particular) that allow you to post your content don’t protect your rights as a creator. Before putting any of your creative work on a website, read their terms and conditions to find out how to protect your content.