Policing the information highway is no easy task. Here are the things that webmasters should do to help protect their copyright.
Place a copyright disclaimer at the bottom of each webpage of your site. Make sure you include the copyright sign ©, your name/alias and an email address so that people can contact you. It's also a good idea to include additional info about any content that you don't want anyone else to use.
Make sure you can identify all content/files as yours. With images that aren't licensed/trademarked, you can imbed a watermark, or a copyright notice in very fine print only visible under great enlargement. With audio files, attach and ID3 to it with your copyright info.
Password protect the webpages that contain content you don't want publicized. Then you can decide which visitors get to access those pages. You may find the code at The Javascript Source.
Disable the right mouse button so that visitors can't save files off the webpage. Again, you may find the code at The Javascript Source.
Unfortunately, many webmasters have already experienced cases of plagiarism. Often the first question they have is 'what to do?'
Contact the plagiarizer! Most people aren't aware that what they're doing is wrong so you have to tell them. Email him/her and ask him/her to remove the content in question immediately or to give you proper credit. Be stern but polite and always state a reasonable time limit (at least a week or two!) for action to be taken.
If the plagiarizer refuses to credit you, make an announcement on your website and let the public know that that person has plagiarized your content! Be sure to include the URL, email addy and name of the plagiarizer. Some webmasters have found it useful to start a petition against the plagiarizer and have been successful in getting the credit they deserve.
If it's a case of bandwidth robbery, contact the plagiarizer first. If he/she does not remove the direct link and properly upload the file into his/her own account, change the filename of the file so that the direct link becomes broken. If bandwidth robbery becomes a repetitive occurance, it becomes rather inconvenient for you to keep moving the file/changing the name. You can see whether you can implement a program/script (ask your server) to block direct link access. If that's not a possibility, use the step above.
If these methods are not successful and the plagiarizer persists in plagiarizing, you may want to consider consulting a lawyer if it is an affordable option.
