Content Theft & Resolution

A copyright can protect you however, artists of all types: authors, writers, photographers and designers have a more difficult battle on their hands. We now live increasingly on the Internet and use it as a medium to share the things that we create for personal and commercial use. The Internet where content is King and the sharing of other individuals content is big business it is inevitable that you will find yourself in the middle of a dispute over your work.

Being prepared in advance for the inventible will help you react properly and swiftly. A lot of other website push their employees to update content without allowing them the space to create original content. This leads to New Jacking and Website Hijacking. They also tend to give very little credit to the original artist. A link back is not enough credit artists need to protect the value of their work.

When personal items like a computer or wallet are stolen you can turn to the police or your insurance company to help track down your items and get compensated. Content is treated differently and you are in charge of resolving any issues that arise. These are things that you can do directly. You do not require a lawyer and it is easier than you might expect.

Step one: Find who stole your content

Step two: Find who owns the website and get their contact information

Step three: Make contact and inform them that you have not allowed them free use of your content, request removal or any other request and create a paper trail of evidence

Staying professional during your interaction might be difficult but it is important. If you have sent a cease and desist notice and they have taken no action you can move onto more extreme steps.

Step four: Contact their advertisers

Step five: Contact search engines

You should keep in mind to keep Copyright clearly displayed on your website. A more extreme step to take is to register your content with the US Copyright Office.