How to Avoid Content Theft: Best Ways From Cityhost.ua

Protecting text and visual content on the Internet is a serious problem for most webmasters. “Content theft” means the intentional copying, storage and distribution of data published on the Site without the permission of the owner. How can such actions affect resource efficiency? The main difficulties arise when ranking sites by search engines. Not only the site that took the content, but also the site from which it was taken may be subject to sanctions or degradation. Uniqueness is lost in both cases.
What should I do? Legislation in the field of intellectual property in Ukraine is under development. This is why attackers use other people’s information to publish it on their websites without any problems. Primary sources (resource owners) are not willing to spend money and effort on litigation, which does not always give a proper result, so they tolerate the fact of theft.

Detailed information on content protection methods is provided by the hosting provider Cityhost.ua’s specialists, who have been hosting websites for more than 15 years.

How to prevent content theft?

Below are the most relevant and effective ways for Ukrainian website owners. With their help you can minimize the risk of data loss or their compatibility. It is important to note the content protection procedures before, during and after their publication on the Site:

1. The most effective way is to use CSS and Java scripts. With their help, the site administration will make it as difficult as possible for the attacker to copy the content. Using scripts, you can block the copy function, or make it pointless to all users. For example, some scripts change Cyrillic to Latin, so the result is a misunderstood text.
2. Program code that transmits data about the resource along with the content (at the end of the text there is an inscription “Additional information on the site: Address”). Users who use such content will normally delete this data. But sometimes they do not notice the postscript and do not know themselves, they publish the text with a link to the source.
3. Use of a copyright mark indicating that the content is protected by international copyright law. The corresponding symbol can be found on most modern resources (located in the lower footer).
4. Add watermarks to pictures and videos to minimize the point of downloading visual files from sites.

Practice shows that timely protection of the data published on the site makes it possible to become more competitive. In addition, it is important to regularly check the uniqueness of the text to track theft and take action against sites that have copied your materials.

What if the content has already been stolen?

After discovering the theft of content on the World Wide Web, resource owners are asking themselves: “What actions should be taken to solve the problem?

There are several options:

1. Contact the owners of the sites where the stolen information is published directly. As evidence, a text uniqueness test can be used. Such checks use the site where the content was first published as the primary source. When appealing, it is advisable to be aware of the legal consequences of illegal copying of data. It is advisable to indicate that in the absence of a reaction, an appeal will be made in court within 1-2 weeks.
2. Use Ukrainian law to solve the problem. The law of 22 December 1993 on Copyright and Neighboring Rights is appropriate for this situation. According to him, protection of copyright is granted to a person from the moment of information. If the theft was committed with a foreign resource, then you should apply to the Berne Convention. The option of inviting a lawyer specializing in intellectual property issues should be considered.
3. File a complaint seeking removal of stolen content from search engines.

The basic principles of intellectual property, albeit in small steps, are beginning to be introduced in the Ukrainian Internet space. Therefore, it is worth fighting for your content rights in every way.

Is it necessary to change the content if it has been stolen and cannot be removed from other sites?

If all the actions of the real content owner did not work, you will have to think about changing or deleting text (video, images) from your resources. After all, search engine algorithms do not guarantee that the original source will be placed above the sites that have stolen the content.

Therefore, if your text has been repeatedly stolen by competitors, you may not be on the first pages of search results.

What to do in such a situation? There are several options:

1. Unification of stolen text again. The main task is to allocate the resource against the background of analogues in the network. In addition, it is worth warning readers about the reasons for editing the post.
2. Engage in more thorough content protection using the methods described above.
3. Put a copyright mark on the site indicating that all data is protected by copyright. Often this action does not have much effect, because in Ukraine the law in the field of intellectual property is not taken seriously.

Unique content is the key to your site’s success in search engine optimization. A site with non-unique materials can not be competitive because its promotion will not give the owner a real result.

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Published: 07.10.2021

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source: Freelance Job