Forgeting a Watermark…
by: Peg Lariviere
In the digital age, sharing content online is easy, but it also presents significant challenges for protecting intellectual property. As creators—whether you’re an artist, writer, or designer—you might worry that your work is being stolen.
I recently had this experience myself. I uploaded my photo, "Good Morning Depot Lake," to my profile on Artists in Canada, a wonderful site that I highly recommend exploring. However, a recent report from the company that scans the web for my photos notified me that “Good Morning” had been hotlinked. This term was unfamiliar to me, and I realized my mistake—I had uploaded the photo to the Artists in Canada website without a watermark.
So, what is hotlinking?
Hotlinking occurs when a website links directly to another site’s image files and uses them as if they were its own. Each time someone views the hotlinked image, it consumes bandwidth from the original site, potentially increasing its hosting costs. This practice can mislead visitors about the image's ownership and harm your brand.
Here are a few strategies to help
protect your work:
Use Watermarks: Add a watermark to your images to deter theft.
Limit Sharing: Be selective about what you share publicly.
Licensing: Clearly state how others can use your work by utilizing tools like Creative Commons licenses.
Monitor Usage: Use image-monitoring services, Google Alerts, or reverse image searches to track online usage of your work.
Responding to Theft:**
If you discover that your work has been stolen, it's crucial to act promptly:
Document Evidence: Take screenshots and record the URLs where your work is being misused.
Contact the Offender: A polite request to cease the unauthorized use can often resolve the issue.
Seek Legal Counsel: In severe cases, consulting with an intellectual property attorney may be necessary to understand your rights and options.
As the digital landscape evolves, our approach to protecting our work online should adapt as well. Stay informed about the risks and take proactive steps to reduce the threat of theft. You have the right to protect your creations because they are an extension of you, and you are important.