7 Ways To Protect Your Artwork From Being Plagiarized Online

Unauthorized reproductions and other forms of plagiarized artwork have been an issue for as long as there has been art. However, the advent of digital image technology and the internet has made it even more difficult to protect your artwork from thieves. These seven methods can help you prevent your artwork from being plagiarized.

Add a Copyright Notice

Adding a copyright notice to your artwork will not stop the most determined thieves, but it will make it more difficult for people to use your images without your permission. Place the notice where it is clearly visible, but does not interfere with the intended purpose of your artwork. This can help deter unwitting thieves who may not realize what they are doing is illegal and lazy people who may prefer moving on to copying a different image, over trying to remove your copyright notice. If you need some assistance navigating copyright law, consider seeking legal help, such as court reporters Phoenix.

Watermark Your Images

Watermarks serve a similar purpose to copyright notices and your watermark may even be a copyright notice. Alternatively, it can be a simple logo. Watermarks are semi-transparent images that overlay your artwork. This makes it possible to display your work, without putting up an image that can easily be copied and used without your permission. Sophisticated thieves may be able to remove the watermark, but people who are simply grabbing images to use on their blog or website are likely to pass it by.

Use Low-Resolution Images

Low-resolution images do not look very good when printed. You can use low-resolution images to market your artwork and only provide high-resolution versions to paying customers or other parties who have obtained your permission to use your work. This technique has the added benefit of making the pages you host your images on faster to load.

Don't Display Whole Images

Another way you can entice buyers without putting your work out there to be stolen is to display only portions of the entire image. Depending on the nature of your work, this option may have limited use and some people may still steal your cropped images.

Reduce the Size of Your Images

Another way to make it difficult for thieves to produce unauthorized prints is to keep your images small. This will help your site load faster and make the images less useful to thieves, because when you try to enlarge small images, they degrade in quality, making them useless for printing.

Make It Easy for People To Buy

If your goal is to sell your artwork, make sure it is easy for customers to buy. If you are open to allowing other people to use your work with permission, make sure it is easy for people to contact you. When people can more easily ask for permission or purchase work they are interested in using, they are less likely to just take it.

Protect Your Copyrights

Whenever you discover that someone has used your work without permission, call them on it. Send a professional sounding email asking that they take down the image or images they have stolen. Many people who steal images on the internet are not aware that what they are doing is illegal or think that no one will ever care or find out. These people will usually take the images down when asked. If they refuse or do not respond in 24 to 48 hours, have an attorney send them a letter. If you find that your artwork has been stolen by someone who is making a lot of money off it, it may be worthwhile to sue for damages.

The digital age has provided artists with larger platforms to display and market their artwork. 

Unfortunately, it has also made it easier for people to use those images without consent. These seven steps can help you protect your work from online plagiarism.