In the world of web, image theft has always been one of the most rampant issues. Access to any images being just a few clicks away, the act of image theft is growing and spreading worldwide. The most vulnerable part of your WordPress blog is the images. The images can be easily saved or downloaded from your blog. Yes, with the improvement of technology, saving or copying an image from any website has become easy. But there are a few ways through which you can prevent WordPress Blog’s images from being stolen or taken without your permission. Though an image thief will always try his best to steal images; by following these five ways you can make the steal-job much harder. Here are the best six ways through which you can save your precious and unique images from being misused or pirated.
Tips to Prevent Image Theft:
- Put a Copyright Notice
- Use Watermark on Images to avoid Image theft
- Keep the right-click option disabled
- Deactivating Hot-linking
- Give terms of use Statement
- Keep track of any violation
Put a Copyright Notice
A creator of an image automatically owns every right of selling, copying and using of that particular image. So, therefore, no one has the liberty to use your images in any way unless you permit them to do so. Adding copyright notice along with your images works as an extra caution notice to prevent image theft. By providing a copyright notice you are basically establishing your inherent rights publicly. A copyright notice works as a reminder that people are not allowed to download or use the images. The majority of the WordPress themes come with an inbuilt copyright notice that you can easily put on the sidebar or footer.
Use Watermark on Images to avoid Image Theft
Another way to prevent image theft is by putting a watermark on them. WordPress allows you to use a copyright watermark or semitransparent image watermark on your WordPress blog images. With various plug-in available for watermarking, you can choose the type. Without disrupting the aesthetic appeal, watermarks work great in discouraging image theft. Different effective plug-ins, like the Envira Gallery or Watermark for Sell Media, are there to help you protect your images with different styles. Well, as a watermark is extremely difficult to remove, it can be the most effective solution.
Keep the Right Click Option Disabled
The easiest way of downloading images from a website is by doing a right-click on the images and selecting the ‘save image’ option. By disabling this mostly-used option, you can protect your images to a great extent. WP Content Copy Protection and No Right Click Images are two of the most popular plug-in for WordPress, through which you can make it more difficult for people to steal your images.
Deactivate Hot-linking
Another common way of stealing the images is by loading them from the source server. Many new bloggers use hotlinking without knowing that they are actually using your images without your permission. When you deactivate the hotlinking option, it not only prevents third parties to use your images; but also increases your bandwidth usage and server load. WordPress plug-in like Hotlink Protection and ByREV WP-PICShield are there to stop people from using your image links on their websites, thus preventing Image theft.
Give Terms of Use Statement
Giving some terms of use statements can be helpful in making the other person aware of your conditions, regarding any use of your images. By using the Auto Terms of Service plug-in in WordPress you can easily generate a page where the terms will be mentioned, such as pricing and ownership. You can also mention here the persons you wish to give licensing privileges to.
Keep Track Of Any Violation
No matter how many plug-ins you use to protect your WordPress blog from image theft; but the most important thing is to monitor any plagiarizing activities. You can always search for your images online; to check whether there is any kind of theft. In the case of any violation, filing the DMCA takedown notice will be your next best option. It immediately informs the third party who has somehow infringes the copyright laws, about your intention of taking legal action against him.
You have taken extreme measures and gone to great lengths in order to make your WordPress blog attractive and informative. Therefore, you do possess every right to protect your images from being plagiarized. Remember, you have the total liberty of protecting your WordPress blog images from unsophisticated levels of image theft, in any way possible.
