How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Online?

BlogIntellectual Property RightsIP Portfolio Review and Management    September 18, 2019
Intellectual Property Rights Posted On

Intellectual Property (IP) is the lifeblood of almost everyone, whether it is a successful online marketer or a well-doing blogger. With the advent of the advanced digital technologies, IPs like pictures, recordings, content, and other inventive works over the Internet are now more than ever targeted to various forms of cyber thefts. Unlawful use of such works, which is a criminal offense and known as Intellectual Property Infringement is one of the worst sorts of online robbery. Your online assets are the best sources to represent you in front of the internet surfers who could be your followers or customers in the future. Hopefully, you don’t want anyone to steal and use your assets for his/ her benefit without your consent. However, if you are a flourishing blogger, there are remarkably lots of possibilities that people will take away, copy, and use your content to make profits on your name. Hence, it is crucial to be a smart proprietor and secure your unique online IP, including content or other things legitimately.

What to do?

First of all, relax and compliment yourself. Why? Because someone found your work so impressive that he/she thought to re-post it. Now, have an insight into the following ways that will help you in protecting your IP online.

  1. Understand Copyright Law: Your unique picture, blog, video, or other content automatically gets protected from the minute you create it. However, it does not mean that others will value your asset and not try to reproduce it. People can undoubtedly use your data, but you can prevent them from doing so by filing and winning a Copyright Infringement. Note that the law safeguards only the expression of your work, not the work itself. Besides, filing a wrong lawsuit may result in penalties. Hence, comprehending the law is of paramount importance before taking any step.
  2. Publish an Official Copyright Notice: Although such notices do not grant you any additional rights, it is vital to remind the world that you own the specific IP. Putting an official copyright notice in your content is the best way to deter others from infringing on it.
  3. Create an Explicit Permissions Policy: Be explicit and build an easy-to-understand permission policy that spells out what people can do with your work. You can create two separate columns: first – how people can use the work without your consent, and second – how they can use it with your permission. It will not only make people contact you before every use of your content but also provide you a published standard to refer to in case someone violates your IP.
  4. Comprehend the Users’ Intention: Not all who re-post your content do so intending to infringe on your Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). Most of them aren’t aware of the law and want to use your work just because they are fans who find your work exciting to share with their readers. They are often uninformed about IPRs and need an education. So try to have insight into the users’ intention and then, proceed further.
  5. Request Users to Remove Your Post: You can do this either through an email or via a comment. However, before that assume the users’ motives and if they are reliable, then be gracious and don’t throttle their enthusiasm. They may be promoting your work but unknowingly while violating your rights. Therefore, commence by thanking them for reposting your work along with explaining that this is illegal. After that, redirect them towards your permissions policy suggesting how they can use your work legally.
  6. Demand Users to Take Your Content Down: If the users act as offenders who don’t respond well to the previous step mentioned above, then turn a bit strict. Escalate your response from a request to demand and send an email, including a demand letter insisting them to take the content down. Being kind while sending such an email for the first time would be beneficial in making them understand the gravity of the situation and thus, respond as you want.
  7. Notify Infringer’s Hosting Service: If the offenders still don’t cooperate, get ready to do some searches. Use an efficient tool such as DomainTools to find their “WhoIs” record. It will provide you with their domain registration information, including details of who hosts the site. Send an email to the hosting service informing why you are requesting a “take-down” of the website. The legitimate service will investigate the case, and if it finds your request genuine, then demand offenders on your behalf. Besides, if the IP infringers don’t comply, it itself will take the site down.
  8. Hire an Attorney: Sometimes, the service providers may be shady, offshore, or incompetent. In such cases, you should hire an attorney having apt knowledge about IP Portfolio Review and Management, How to Manage Intellectual Property. Digital pirates are incredibly deceptive and can appear as well as disappear faster than you can imagine. Hence, it is always advisable to walk with the supervision of an experienced attorney.

At last, you must note that the more people reproduce your content, the more audience will come across it, which ultimately can benefit you. Hence, it is better to always proceed after obtaining an appropriate insight into how the users are using your content or any other IP online. Nevertheless, if the use of the work doesn’t seem in your favor, try these above-given steps. They will not just assist you in dealing with unauthorized users but also dramatically reduce the chances of your IP theft and unlawful use in the future. For more visit: https://www.kashishipr.com/ 

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