Have you ever had any of your blog posts stolen? What I mean by that is literally copied word for word to another blog.
It’s happened to me a few times, and it’s also happened recently to James, who blogs at Perfect Manifesto. Read his post here.
Reading James’s post prompted me to update and republish this post from 2019.
Some of my blog posts have been copied and published on other blogs. The thieves gave full credit for the work to themselves. When it first happened to me, I was utterly shocked and angry.
Unfortunately, with the internet being such a vast, open space used by billions of people worldwide, the chance of having your blog posts or work stolen is high.
Don’t think your blog is too small to have its contents stolen. As you’ll see in the comment image below, James felt his blog was too small for anyone to want to steal his blog posts, but he was wrong.
Whether it’s photos, fiction, reviews, poetry, recipes or gardening tips, everything faces the chance of being copied and somebody else taking full credit for your hard work.
What should you do if you discover one of your blog posts or photos have been stolen?
Contact the blogger concerned and ask them to remove what they have stolen.
If that fails, contact the blogging platform hosting the blog and file a copyright claim against the blogger. Whenever I have filed a claim. I’ve been lucky that the offending blogs and their contents were deleted.
Click here to find out what to do if a WordPress.Com user has infringed your Copyright.
What Can I Do To Protect My Blog Posts And Photos Being Stolen?
What I am about to advise you to do may not stop somebody else from copying your work, but it acts as a warning to anyone thinking of copying or duplicating your work without your permission that they could face the possibility of prosecution, a fine, both, or having their blog deleted by their host.
1. Display a copyright and disclaimer notice
I recommend that anybody with their own blog or web page clearly display a ‘Copyright and/or Disclaimer’ notice.
Some websites offer ‘Copyright and Disclaimer’ notices free of charge and give instructions on how to copy and paste one of these notices to your blog or webpage.
WordPress offers excellent advice and instructions on displaying a ‘Copyright and/or Disclaimer’ notice. Click here to view it.
2. Widgets and menus
If you use a theme on your blog which displays widgets, I recommend you display your Copyright and/or disclaimer notice as one of your widgets. I use the Toujours theme on my blog, and the widgets I use are displayed on the sidebar to the right of my blog posts.
My ‘Copyright’ notice is the last widget at the bottom of my sidebar, while my disclaimer notice (Disclaimer & GDPR) can be found on the menu at the top of my blog. Take a look at them.
You are welcome to use them as your blog’s copyright and disclaimer notices. All you need to do is copy and paste them to your own blog and, where necessary, change some of the wording to reflect your own name and the name of your blog.
If you’re unsure what ‘widgets’ are or how to add them to your WordPress blog, click here for full details.
3. Copyright every blog post
I always add a copyright mark at the end of all my blog posts. All my posts finish with Copyright © (Year) hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved. Doing this also helps as a deterrent against copying my posts. Remember to change the year when a new year begins.
You’ll see I’ve placed a copyright notice at the base of this post.
When a bot or spambot copies one of your posts, it won’t remove the copyright mark. Therefore, anyone reading the post may become suspicious and realise the post has been stolen. It also acts as a warning not to follow the blog that has stolen the post.
4. Protect your photos and images
Many bloggers also include photos and pictures in their posts.
While you may display a Copyright and/or disclaimer notice on your blog, I recommend you also watermark your photos and images.
Most computers come with software that helps edit photos you have loaded onto your hard drive, but there are other ways to watermark them.
I use an app called ‘Photobulk’ to watermark all my photos. It’s easy to use and costs around $9.99, but it can often be found on offer or free to download from the developer’s website. Click here to visit the website. (The link is not an affiliated link, so I do not receive any payment from it.)
I simply drag any photos I want to watermark to Photobulk, type in the text for the watermark I use (in my case, I use © hughsviewsandnews.com), and press ‘start.’ My photos are then watermarked with my details.
There are free watermarking apps for Apple products, too many to mention here, so check the Apple App Store for more details.
What about Android users?
Click here for a free photo watermarking app for android. As an Apple user, I’ve never used the app, but the reviews for this particular app are excellent.
Don’t forget you can also add copyright notices as a photo caption. Your copyright details will then show under the photo, but it is best to watermark the photos, making stealing them more difficult.
5. Remove the reblog button from your blog
If you don’t want your blog posts stolen or shared by other bloggers, consider removing the reblog button from your blog. My post, Is Reblogging Dead? Why I Have Removed The Reblog Button From My Blog, details why you should remove the reblog button and how to remove it.
If you have a reblog button on your blog, readers will assume you’re happy for them to reblog your posts. So, remove the reblog button if you don’t want any of your posts reblogged.
6. Remember to update
Finally, always ensure you download the latest updates for any apps or software you use; otherwise, they may not work correctly. This includes antivirus software for your computer and the latest updates for the blogging platform you use.
Of course, if you’re not worried about your blog posts, work, photos or images being copied or used without your permission, you can ignore all the above advice. However, I’d be surprised if any bloggers are not concerned about their posts, work and photos being stolen.
Remember what I said earlier? James thought his blog was a low target for thieves to steal his blog posts, but it happened.
If you have any questions about displaying copyright and/or disclaimer notices on your blog, please leave a comment.
Let’s wrap it up
- Don’t assume your blog is too small to have anything stolen from it. It can happen to anyone.
- Display a copyright and disclaimer notice on your blog.
- Copyright every blog post by adding a copyright mark at the end of every post.
- Watermark photos and images with the name of your blog before inserting them into posts.
- If you don’t want other bloggers reblogging your posts, remove the reblog button from your blog.
- Remember to update apps, antivirus software and any updates your blogging host releases.
Have you ever had your blog posts and/or photos/images copied and used without your permission? What do you do to help stop your blog posts, photos and images from being used illegally?
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