If you are a content creator, chances are that you are familiar with content theft. It is a nightmare for any content creator to see that their hard work has been ripped off its original source to be posted to another website. 

This happens all the time for content creators, and it is a big problem. More so because it makes quite a lot of money when you steal content. For instance, they can be posted on tube sites to earn ad dollars. For creators who depend on selling premium content, the loss of these sales can add up to quite a bit. 

So what can you do in order to protect your content from getting stolen like this? Luckily, there are many ways to fight content theft and make sure your brand is secure. Here are five ways to protect your content. 

1. Watermark your content

Watermarking does not necessarily protect your content from getting stolen, but it does tag your videos with your branding, so that even if it gets stolen and gets posted elsewhere, people can still see where it came from. If those viewers watching your stolen content would like to see more of what you make, they can find you and your actual legitimate profiles by searching your name. 

By watermarking videos, you can actually turn pirated content into free advertising for your content. 

2. Ask help from your fans 

Your fans are one of your greatest allies. So ask them for help, because more often than not, they will go above and beyond for you. 

Then again you might think, what could they realistically do? A lot actually. In the wide ocean of the Internet, it can be difficult to stay vigilant for all the content thieves. But your fans can be your eyes and ears in the field. Fans can spot stolen content, as well as alert you if there are catfishes that are pretending to be you.  

3. Send DMCA takedowns 

The best way to beat content theft is to remove the stolen content outright. That’s where DMCA takedowns come in. DMCA takedowns are one of the most essential tools when it comes to combating content theft. Let’s say you see your content being stolen and reposted on a video platform. Your first course of action available to you is DMCA takedowns. 

The DMCA is essentially a law, standing for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When you “send a DMCA”, it’s basically a legal cease and desist email that threatens to use represussion from the DMCA law against them. Here cease and desist means that you legally ask them to stop their practice and that continuing will risk further legal action. 

The DMCA takedown is a very well established standard that is accepted by websites everywhere, and internet platforms readily comply when the owner of the content asks for removal of stolen content. It does take work, but DMCA takedowns remain one of the most effective and surefire methods of removing stolen content. 

4. Take down illegal links from Google 

Illegal content can damage your Google search rankings. People may look for your content on Google, only to have the pirated content show up above your actual content pages. Every time a search gets hijacked on a stolen content link, that’s business lost for you. 

For this, there is Google delisting. You can ask Google to remove content under applicable laws, which definitely includes stolen content. By doing so you reduce the number of illegal links that pop up when people search for you, thereby increasing your visibility on Google. 

5. Be very selective about platform security 

Protecting your content starts even before you post content. In fact, choosing the right platform with the kind of security that can protect your content is one of the most important things you can do to make sure your content does not get stolen. 

There are a lot that goes into assessing platform security, but the main points you should pay attention to are the following: 

• User verification: check if the platform verifies its users. Users who are verified are less likely to pirate your content. 
• Content theft prevention: does the platform have sufficient security to prevent scraping of content or leaks? 
• Quality of support: make sure the platform you’re signing up for has a good support team that is eager to help you when your content gets stolen. Not only can they help you protect your content, it shows that they care. 

Protecting your content is a long term fight 

As long as you have content people want to watch, there will be those who want to steal it and post it themselves. It is hard work, but it has to be done, because this is your livelihood. If you let content thieves run wild, they will eventually destroy your brand and your business. 

Nowadays, you also have the alternative of using software that does the bulk of the work for you like BranditScan, which detects and sends out DMCA requests as well as Google delisting requests. 

But even if it is a constant struggle, it is worth it to keep up the effort to thwart content theft. It’s like graffiti. If you show that you don’t care, then content thieves will think you are an easy target. Make them work for it, so that way they’ll be more likely to give up on stealing your content.