How To Protect Drupal Content (Articles and Photos) From Being Copied

Some time ago I noticed some website has copied my content including all texts and photos. I immediately contacted the website owner with a request to take down this copy/pasted content. This simple approach worked this time and indeed my content was taken down.

Although in next morning I found another website has just copy/pasted my content with text and images, again I contacted them with requset to take my content down, because of I have not given such permission to re-publish my contents and photos.

On the other hand I truly understand - if you want to protect your content, don't put it online.

That's true, there is nothing much actually we can do, except contacting other website and requesting to take our content down or filling some claims using DMCA takedown.

Though there is a way we can protect our content using fool's proof approach by using a simple and yet powerful Drupal Module Copy Prevention which disallows to view source, adds transparent image on your images and so on. In  other words - it makes it harder to copy your content for copycats with low technical skills.

From modules creators:

Anything you put out there in the Internet (public pages) is available for anyone else to copy and save/re-use. So if you really want your content to be safe and protected - do not put it online.

But if you want you can try to protect your content/images and prevent/disable at least the most simple ways to copy it. In fact, anyone can "view source", check the browser cache for images, use "Print Screen" or "site copy" software, etc. - these things can't be disabled, but they require additional knowledge and skills than just selecting the content and copying it or dragging an image from browser window to the desktop.

This module includes several different technical ways/methods to make copying/stealing information/images from your site harder than it usually is:

  • Disable text selection
  • Disable copy to clipboard
  • Disable right-click context menu on all site content
  • Disable right-click context menu only on images (<img> tag)
  • Place transparent image above all your images - this will protect your real images from being saved using context menu or drag-and-drop to desktop
  • Protect/hide your images from search engine indexes so that your images don't show up in image searches - add "noimageindex" robots tag and disallow image files indexing in robots.txt

Some of these methods might make your site harder to use for less-advanced users and you should carefully consider all the implications of using these techniques.

The bottom line

I really like an expression  

- you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar 

So instead of writing hostile letters to a copycat, write a polite message explain that you have not given him/her any permission to re-publish your content, and ask them to remove it.

With help of this simple Drupal module Copy Prevention enabled you will have a fool's proof content protection enabled.

about

Hi! My name is Reinis Fischer (38), a proud dad and devoted husband. CEO and Founder of Terramatris crypto hedge fund, drone enthusiast, world traveler, photographer, and passionate lover of Georgian cuisine (vegetarian).

An ex-pat living in Georgia since 2011, I trade stocks, take photographs, work out at the gym, and many more. Here I write about travel, finance, and other things that might interest me.