How to protect your designs
No method of protecting designs online is infallible. There are methods to deter thieves, such as disabling right click and encrypting code, but there are ways to get around each of these methods. If you have images or designs online, they can be copied.
To protect your designs online, be sure that you own the copyright to them, be able to prove that the designs are yours if you discover that someone has copied them, and then get the stolen images removed.
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Know that you own the copyright
If you created a design for yourself, or if you hired someone to create it as work for hire, you own the copyright. You don't need to register the copyright for it.
When you hire someone to design something for you, be clear in your agreement that you want original work and that the copyright will be yours. When you purchase a ready-made image or design, don't assume that you own the copyright unless it's written in the agreement that the work is unique, has not been previously sold, and that the copyright is transferred to you.
Have proof that you own the copyright
Keep copies of drafts of designs — designs you hire other people to create as well as your own work. Also keep copies of written work agreements that include details about the designs being original and the copyrights yours. When you make changes to your designs, keep copies or screenshots of the originals to show the history of the designs under your ownership.
Include a copyright notice on each page
Legally, a copyright notice isn't necessary, but it's a common misconception that work isn't copyrighted unless it has a copyright notice. Such a notice can help deter people who think that designs are available for them to copy unless they're told otherwise. It can also be useful if you ever need to try to get designs stolen from you taken offline.
Mark your images
Use watermarks on images for sale. Thieves tend to think that if they can just take something that's for sale rather than paying for it, they'll just take it. Having a watermark on each image for sale means that people have to pay to get the image without the watermark. It can still be copied with the watermark on it, but the work involved in trying to remove it acts as a deterrent to would-be thieves.
For all images, add text identifying you as the owner to the image metadata. People who steal images for their own sites aren't likely to check if any metadata identifies the images.
Search for your images or code
Copyscape has a plagiarism checker that allows users to enter page URLs to check if the content exists anywhere else online. You can also search on your own for unique parts of your code to see if you find it elsewhere. Include contact information at your site, and people who come across content copied from your site might contact you to let you know about it.
Take steps to have stolen designs removed
If you find your images or designs at another website, first, contact the website owner. Contact information can usually be found in the whois details for the domain. If the website owner refuses to remove the stolen content, contact the web host and, if necessary, the datacenter. Provide evidence that the images or designs were stolen from you and that you own the copyright to them. Be polite with your initial request and send a "cease and desist" letter if that doesn't get results.
See also
Web Hosting Wiki article text shared under a Creative Commons License.
