Dogbark.com >> How To >> Protect Your Images

Copyright issues have been magnified with the ease of grabbing images from the Internet. There's really no way to completely keep people from making copies of your images. There are a number of tricks people try for protection but if someone can see your image on their computer, they already have a copy. It's as simple as that.

• Label Your Work

It is important to label all your content as "copyright" with the date. Additionally you should use the "©" symbol (Macintosh: option-G) on all pages and images.

• Educate Your Visitors

Create a copyright statement and link which will further educate visitors to your site.

• Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is a great resource for copyright issues.

• Pursue Legal Action

If you observe someone using your original images or content without permission pursue legal action. Unauthorized use can produce a financial settlement. You may wish to contact a non-profit trade organization such as ASMP or GAG to help you in your claim.

• Design Protection

Be careful not to leave your "images" folder without a blank index.html page in the directory. If you leave the directory open a savvy individual could go in there and snag every picture that you have without a whole lot of effort. It has happened before and it will happen again if you aren't careful it could happen to you. Simply upload a blank index.html page into the directory and that will solve this problem.