It doesn’t take a computer genius to steal content from another website. In fact, ‘cut and paste’ is all you need to know. So, how do you protect all your hard work from being stolen and plagiarised? Well, it’s difficult, perhaps impossible. Fortunately, though, there are a few powerful ways to discourage potential theft and actions you can take if it happens.
The Copyright Act and Terms of Use
Copyright protects your website content. This includes all content including the words, videos, photographs, music and artwork. In other words, copyright law protects anything original on your site. Any original work created in Australia and published on the Internet is protected automatically under the Copyright Act 1968. In addition, it’s a good idea to develop a solid ‘Terms of Use’ statement for your website. This would clearly set out how visitors can use your content.
Create Content that’s Unique and Legally Sound
Besides the legal ramifications of copying content, it’s worth noting that unique content is the golden key to higher rankings in Google. As such, good original content is recognised and rewarded by the Google algorithm. And importantly, it also knows if it’s been copied and when. Remember, even if someone else’s content is reworded, it can still be considered plagiarism if the ‘idea’ is copied. This could be known as Intellectual Property (IP) theft.
F1RST Take Content Theft Seriously
Unfortunately, copying of website content is rife across the internet. We see it often. We can assist with advice and provide legal documents that facilitate the removal of the copied content and even secure compensation. Moreover, if we manage your site, we’ll take firm action on your behalf. In short, we stand up for our client’s copyright.
