A rchive Date
[ 13-06-2000 ]
Category
[ Information Technologies ]
sub-Categoy
[ Networking ]
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[Strategies for protecting your Web site content
by Jim O'Shea
September 1999
Versions: 6.5, 6.5 Plus
Operating systems: Macintosh, Windows
No one can dispute that the World Wide Web has changed the way we do business. In the past, a designer would lay out a project for print only. Now, many clients also want that project designed for print and the Web. This creates new problems that aren't inherent with print, such as protecting your electronic content against theft. Theft? What do we mean by that? Well, one of the best attributes of the Web is that you can publish original content so easily. Unfortunately, the Web also makes stealing original content very easy. If you publish original text, graphic images, or sound files on your Web site, you should be concerned about protecting that content. In this article, we'll show you some techniques for deterring copyright infringement of your Web site content. Then we'll explain how you can track down and stop unauthorized postings of your stolen content.
Displaying your copyright notice
Copyright law states that your original content is copyrighted the moment it's put into a tangible form (which includes electronic media). But, with electronic format, taking some extra steps will help protect your copyright on the Internet. Make sure that you include a copyright notice followed by the year and your name at the bottom of your index page. For example, (c) 1999, John Doe
Protecting images and sounds with digital watermarks
Digital watermarks are analogous to the traditional watermarks used in print media (such as paper currency or legal documents) to establish proof of authenticity. Like their traditional counterparts, digital watermarks are indelible and invisible to the naked eye. For example, to display a digital watermark encoded within an image file, you must use special viewing software, just as you would hold paper up to a light to see a traditional watermark. Digital watermarks can convey more than just proof of authenticity; they can also communicate information about the sound or image's creator and give the data a unique identity that he or she can use to track or control the image's distribution.
Digital watermarks take advantage of the fact that all image and sound files contain a small amount of data that doesn't usually have a discernible effect on the image's appearance when it's displayed, printed, or scanned. We often refer to this data as noise because it's random and usually nonsensical. Digital watermarks create a message that mimics the file's noise data and embeds it in the image file as a digital watermark.
In addition, digital watermarks are very durable. They can survive many kinds of image-editing techniques (including blur, rotate, cut, paste, crop, and color separation), data compression, and multiple generations of reproduction across a variety of electronic and print media. For example, you can copy an image containing the digital watermark from a Web page, print it, and fax it to someone, and the digital watermark will remain intact. For more information on digital watermarks, refer to the list of digital watermark software applications in Table A.
Table A: There are a number of companies that produce software for making digital watermarks.
Protecting text content
Protecting text content is much more difficult than protecting images or sound. In fact, short of locking up your content with passwords or an electronic commerce solution, it's impossible to protect text content with 100 percent accuracy. It is, however, possible to initiate some strong deterrents and track violations. One of the simplest deterrents you can use is including a copyright notice.
HTML deterrents
After exporting your PageMaker document to HTML, you might want to open the HTML files in a simple text editor and use an HTML coding method to protect your Web documents. You can include hidden tags with copyright information and/or a document serial number that you can search for at a later date. There are several HTML tags in which you can hide information, and each tag provides its own level of effective protection. For example, you might include an HTML comments tag with your copyright notice and date of publication, as shown below.
<!--(c) 1999, John Doe - September 14 -->
The comments tag will remain hidden to casual readers, but it will serve as notice to anyone viewing the source code.
You can include the same type of information in the alternative text of a link or graphic anchor. For example, the image tag below includes the serial number 026478.
<img src="object.gif" alt="(c) 1999,
John Doe - September 14 #026478">
In addition to your copyright notice, you can include a unique string of letters and/or numbers to serve as a serial number for your document. This method is very effective against someone who copies your entire Web page or source code and simply renames it. The alternative text field is cataloged by search engines, which you can query at a later date for your serial number. This method can also be effective in a meta tag.
Using a similar method, you can also hide information in the actual text of your document. Just use the font color tag to make your serial number the same color as your page background. For example, against a white background the following information would be invisible:
<FONT COLOR="#ffffff">(c) 1999,
John Doe - September 14
#026478</FONT>
This technique is effective when someone copies text from your Web page and re-uses it unedited. The number will appear in the pasted text normally, but can serve as a keyword for a search engine if the number goes unnoticed. And, if someone copying your text notices the hidden number, it might make him or her think twice about using the text.
Tracking down infringements with search engines
One of the easiest steps you can take to protect your copyright is to register your index page or original works with the major search engines. Registering with a search engine can provide you with proof that you posted your material on a particular date. In addition, it can make tracking down copyright infringements much easier. As we mentioned earlier, you can hide unique strings of letters and/or numbers in your HTML documents to serve as a serial number, which can make them easier to track down with a search engine. But the way you use words and form sentence structures might prove to be unusual enough to serve as an even more reliable tracer for finding copyright infringements on the Internet.
Most major search engines allow you to conduct queries by phrase, which tells a search engine to look at a string of words as if they were one word, and not a set of separate words. This search technique greatly limits the search. For example, if you conduct a straight search for the words in the Shakespearean quote, "Cry `Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war," in InfoSeek, you'll get over 59,428,000 matching results. The search includes all documents with the words Havoc, Cry, dogs, slip, war, and let, and ignores the words and, of, and the. But, if you use double quotation marks (and remove the single quotation marks from Havoc) with the same phrase, then InfoSeek returns with 53 matche. Such powerful search features increase the likelihood that you'll find copies of your work in a short amount of time.
If you're serious about protecting your copyrighted content, you'll want to query multiple search engines to get the best results, since even the major search engines don't index the entire Web. You'll also need to schedule regular searches in order to find violations. You can automate periodic searches simply by bookmarking the search results page. Then, when you want to conduct the search again, all you need to do is go to your bookmarks and open the search results, just as you would any other Web page. The search engine will conduct the search again and include any new links in the search results. Most major search engines let you bookmark a search result's pages for later reference. You can also take advantage of a service called Mind-it, which conducts periodic searches for you and then informs you of new results by email. You can find Mind-it at www.netmind.com/html/url-minder.html.
Steps to take when you find a violation
If you find that someone has copied your work, the first step you should take is to contact the person and ask that your material be removed from the site. If this doesn't work, or you're reluctant to contact the individual directly, you can contact his or her ISP (Internet service provider) or Web host. Inform the Web host administrators of the violation and let them know that you don't consider the infringement a trivial matter. Offer to provide proof of your copyright dates and impress upon them the legal action that you're willing to pursue. You'll find that most administrators will be glad to help you reach a resolution, if they realize that you're serious about the violation. You might find it difficult to identify a site's Web host or ISP if the site has its own domain name and provides no information about the Web host. You can usually bypass this problem by conducting a Whois search at Network Solutions' Whois database, which is located at www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois.
Just enter the site's domain name but leave out www. For example, to find the Web host or ISP for the Web site www.zdjournals.com, enter the query zdjournals.com. Network Solutions will display information about the domain, as shown in Figure B. Look for the technical contact information, which should list the Web host or ISP.
Conclusion
No matter how many precautions you take, people can still illegally post your copyrighted text and images on the Web. They can copy your HTML source code or use your images even with digital watermarks. Still, you can't take advantage of your rights under copyright law unless you take the initiative to protect and track down copyright infringement of your content. The techniques you use from this article will reflect the importance you place on your work and your willingness to protect it.
Copyright registration and resources
As we mention in the accompanying article, copyright law provides you with certain rights to your original content the moment it's put into a tangible form. These rights, however, are limited. In order to get full protection under copyright law, which includes the right to sue for infringement and receive statutory damages, you must register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office within three months from the date of first publication or prior to the date of infringement. To register a copyright, you must send a completed application form, a filing fee of $20, and a copy of the content you want to register to
Register of Copyrights
Copyright Office
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 20559
For more information on copyright registration and law, visit the U.S. Copyright Office Web site at lcweb.loc.gov/copyright. Some other good resources for copyright information include
The Copyright Web site
http://www.benedict.com/
Cornell University's Legal Law Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/copyright.html
10 Big Myths about copyright explained
www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
Copyright, Trademarks, and the Internet
www.ctls.org/Ebersole.htm
Digital Property
www.virtualschool.edu/mon/ElectronicProperty.html
Copyright © 1999, ZD Inc. All rights reserved. ZD Journals and the ZD Journals logo are trademarks of ZD Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of ZD Inc. is prohibited. All other product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. ]
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