How can I prevent anyone copying content from my webiste?

[sheerheight]

Hi al,
don`t know if I`m in the right forum for this. So if I`m not let me know please
Has anyone got any idea how you can protect your content from being copied?
I am developing a Website in which the content - information is accessable to paying members - but how can I prevent anyone paying for say one day , copying everything and `running off`´ . (of course I will keep the website active, new with lots of other interesting things to keep my members `hooked` ) but how can I protect the texts.
thnx
Julia

[JKomp]

Hey welcome to the forum.
We have had this conversation many times before.
The conclusion - you can't! Anything that people can see they can copy. You can disable right click (which may annoy normal visitors and is also easy to get round) and you can put your text in an image file (which will be bad news for SEO and your site in general). However, the only way to effectively stop people copying your content is not to put it on the web.

[sheerheight]

Hi and thnx Thomas (?)
soemhow that`s not what I hoped to hear but what I expected.
I have in fact already got a button underneath every text which reads print! so people can just print the texts -
how can I prevent a right mouse click - then at least the texts can be printed with my logo on them.
Of course that still won`t stop things getting copied. But for the normal average customer ?

Julia

[cyanide]

Here is a script for no right-click

But , there are limitations, besides being annoying.
It only works in IE and won't work if people have javascript turned off in their browser

[sheerheight]

Hi Cyanide
thnx for the tip
I don`t mind people printing the texts out with my logo on the page - but at least they can`t copy and paste etc then.
I´ll see what I can do
thnx a lot
Julia

[ctabuk]

This might help you spot who's doing it http://www.webconfs.com/similar-page-checker.php

[JKomp]

"(4.0+ browsers) Ever wanted to prevent users from "borrowing" images from your site through right-clicking them and" I just copy and pasted this from the no right click page - shows just how easy it is to get round.
ctabuk's tool is good but if you are worried about print outs then it obviously can't detect those.

[sheerheight]

Hi,
I am not online with my website yet It`s still`in the oven´ or `on the line´ or whatever people in the businss say - so I wanted to deal with these issues before I go on line. Nobody has copied any content yet - but that`s a good tip. Don`t think it will help. Thing is it MUST be possible to in someway protect your content - we just haven`t found out how to do it yet! We`re not thinking in the right direction. I am not a professional web designer and only know basics. But ther must be away. ;-D

It seems to be a hot issue.

[JKomp]

Nope, seriously there isn't. If people can see it they can copy it. So don't want to risk your content being copied? Don't put it where others can view it - simple as that.

[ran_dizolph]

Only thing i can think of, is to copyright all the content, and litter your site with warnings that you will sue...then, if anyone does swipe it, you can track 'em and make an example of them.

other than that you CANNOT stop people from getting it if they want it.

[frogmanandy]

you could make the content you don't want copied PDF or flash, won't really stop someone who is really determined but will make it harder for most folks.

[mavahntooth]

their is always a print screen. lol

[randelld]

What about placing a layer right over the text and put a transparent gif in it???? Right click would just copy the gif. Still won't stop the determined but it would make it less attractive to them.

[sheerheight]

Thanx all of u.
I keep coming back and reading all your answers.
I think I am just going to have to ake sure my website users see straight away that I have good reliable content well worth paying a relatively smal amoutn for.
Just bought a book
sorry it`s in German:
Paid content ersolgreich verkaufen -
written bei Hannes Fehr
Good reading - gives good solid advice on how to sell conten successfully on Online portals

Julia

[Faglork]

Does the book offer a solution for micropayment? In Europe?
I need an easy way to sell mp3 files right off a site. Most files will sell for under 1 euro, so the transaction costs have to be low.

faglork

[flatlander]

Take a look at www.copyscape.com. I add their logo/warning to the bottom of my websites and use their site to search for copies of my pages on the Web.

[Jabber_uk]

I noticed this one a little late so doubt my reply will be useful now but...

When you use Flash to load a text file, it seems that the text cannot be selected and therefore copied. At least this happens on a Flash 7 site of ours:

http://www.millfieldstrust.com

For some reason that I would need to look into it only happens on two of the three pages that use flash to load text:

http://www.millfieldstrust.com/home.htm
http://www.millfieldstrust.com/history.htm

and not:

http://www.millfieldstrust.com/news.htm

Perhaps its just a bug or even a usable alternative to stop copying and pasting?

[A. Smith]

To somewhat protect images, you can use a program such as ImageXYZ. It puts a watermark over the picture. You can have your site name, or whatever you want in the watermark. I believe it's a shareware or freeware program.

Like the rest said... it'll only keep the honest folks out of copying ;), but it's better than nothing.

[spronger]

As flatlander suggested, CopyScape is your best bet. They give you the tools for detecting copyright infingements and resources for taking action against them.

As for trying to prevent copying in the first place, don't bother. If they want your content they'll get it. Right-click disablers only annoy legit users.

Steve

Blue Mountains Bookmarks

[incrediblehelp]

If they do copy your content and put it on their website you can report them to each search engine