Best Methods to Prevent Image Theft in WordPress
Posted on November 9th, 2021
If there are chances of stealing the content, then stealing images is another severe issue. If an author uses images on his site from another source, he has to give credit to that source. There are many image sources from which a bunch of pictures are available for free. However, people usually believe that if free images are available, they can use them anywhere they want, but that’s illegal.
Only the owner of the image creator has the right to use his images freely. In case even other authors use it, they have to give credit to the authors. But nowadays, image theft is becoming a severe issue that can’t be controlled easily. Copyright laws are universal and applicable around the world. The original creator automatically becomes the copyright owner of their work. So you can’t use other’s work on your site without their permission. And even if you get permission to display their work, you have to give credit to the original owner. Also, even Though they don’t mention it on their website, one should assume that the content they are viewing or using is protected by copyright.
The content includes all images, texts, videos, or any other form of content that you see on the web. The issue is that pictures and text can be easily copied nowadays. Most people think that no one will notice if they stole an image and used it on their website. It is illegal and creates a copyright issue if the original author has put an allegation on it. There are multiple sources where you can easily find free and public domain images. While it is flattering to see other people use your work in their projects. Also, sometimes it can be very disappointing to see a blatant disregard for your rights. So, here we are mentioning how you can stop others from stealing your images.
5 Ways to Prevent Image Thefts in WordPress
- Disable the Right-click option
- Create the Galleries
- Use watermark on Images
- Include Copyright Notices
- Add DMCA badge to your site
Disable the Right-click option
You know very well how users usually save the images. It is just a matter of a few clicks, and your image will be on their desktop. You will be afraid to wonder that the image you have created will be handed to normal people this easily.
They right-click on your image and click on the “Save image as” option. In just a few seconds, they will be able to see your image on their downloads or any location. But what if you disable the right-click option. That sounds right, and it won’t allow anyone to save your image. You can do this with many plugins available. You have to install those plugins on your dashboard.
Envira gallery lite is one of the popular plugins used for advanced features for creating image galleries. It also provides an option to protect the images from thefts.
You have to install the plugin on your dashboard and go to settings. Once you create your image gallery, there will be the option of “Image Protection.” You have to enable the option which ultimately disables the right-click options for users. However, there are many other plugins available such as WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click. However, no right-click plugin will provide protection keys to save your images as well as the content. It will give many built-in features such as no right-click or context menu. It will disable Ctrl+V, Ctrl+S, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+A. This way, you can prevent image thefts in WordPress.
Create the Galleries
Most beginners are used to uploading images on the website. It sounds like laborious work to upload one-by-one images on the website. But if you will create a gallery on which you can upload the images with many customizing tools. However, you can also upload that gallery on your website and add pictures to it.
There are many plugins available for creating galleries. You can install the gallery plugin from the WordPress plugin directory for free. The nextGen plugin effectively creates a gallery as it offers many extra options such as slideshow, lightbox, uploading zip files, etc. It is compatible with any theme. You can also use Photo gallery by 10Web, which offers multiple customizable views and a powerful lightbox. Moreover, you will get four widgets on this plugin. It is one of the ways to prevent image thefts.
Use watermark on Images.
Using watermarks is another option to stop image theft activities. If you add a watermark in the images, it will not be used because you have created your credit on images. So, Now one can use them that easily.
As mentioned earlier, Envira gallery lite will disable the right-click option. However, there are multiple uses of installing Envira gallery lite on your dashboard. It gives you a watermarking add-on. You need to have a silver license so you will be able to add watermarks to your images. You can edit the position and proper margin to set the watermark in any images or the company’s logo. This way, you can easily prevent image thefts of your work by adding watermarks. No one can use images that have watermarks. Even if they use it on their site, a watermark will be there, representing the original owner.
Include Copyright Notices
Adding copyright notice will scare people to use your content or images. It will notify people that serious steps will be taken against theft activities if they use the photos. You just have added copyright notice in the footer by adding the HTML code in the text. However, you need to update it yearly. It won’t help much but let people know not to use any images or content. So, ultimately you can stop the image theft activities in this way. This way also, you can prevent thefts of your images on your site. You will need to add the shortcode [copyright] to any post, page, or text widget on your site to display a copyright notice. You can also use this code in your theme’s footer.
Add a DMCA Badge to your site.
This step is more convenient rather than any other. DMCA has paid and free protection; you can choose any. If DMCA finds any person to use your images or content, it will notify them not to do this offense. Otherwise, you can take strict actions on those thefts.
However, this process is automatic, so you must install a DMCA badge on your WordPress dashboard. It will automatically insert the badges whether it is free or paid. If you sign up, then you will get the benefit of certified badges. It will automatically enable/disable protective features on the dashboard. However, DMCA also provides a watermark plugin separately. It is one of the best ways to prevent the theft of the images on your site.
Conclusion
Copyright is Universal law that applies to everyone. No one can steal your content without your permission. It is very disappointing when other people in their project use your work without notifying you. The content could be all images, texts, videos, or any other form of content that you see on the web. One has to give credit to the original owner if they are willing to use their content on their site. You can prevent image thefts in various ways. You can use watermarks and include the copyright notice with the images so viewers can’t use your work on their site or anywhere. Also, you can disable the right-click using Envira gallery lite. It is one of the ways users usually save images. We have mentioned five ways to prevent image theft in WordPress. We hope this article will help you to avoid thefts of images.
