Are you blogging for business? Content marketing is a great strategy to get more customers or clients into your business.

Blogging can take hours and it’s tough when you see someone who has copied your content word for word. Well, you’re in luck because today I’m going to tell you how to prevent this from happening and you can continue blogging for your business with peace of mind.

1. Registering your copyright will protect your blog content from copycats.

Firstly, a copyright is a form of intellectual property law, that protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture.
As soon as you write and publish your blog post, you have created copyright content. Next step is to register your blog post with the Copyright Office. By registering your blog post for a copyright, you are setting yourself for the ultimate content protection.

Advantages of copyrighting your blog post?

• Licensing out your blog post (and GET PAID)
• Derivative works (include the posts in newsletters, e-courses, and on social media)

File suit if someone uses your blog content without your permissionThis last one is important because if you don’t register a copyright for your blog and someone steals it, you can’t even file suit until your mark is registered. Furthermore, registration can take 6 months or longer.Even if you decide not to register for copyright protection, at least put a copyright notice on your page.

Example: © 2019 Wilson Murphy Law, P.A. All rights reserved.

2. Disable text selection on your blog

By disabling the ability to copy and paste, you are making it 100x harder for someone to copy your post. If someone is willing to rewrite your whole post..well that’s a weird and miserable existence for that thief. You can disable the copy and paste by inserting CSS code, which is hard and annoying. Or you can use a plug-in on WordPress. The WordPress plug-in I found is called “WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click.” Best of all, it’s free! I’m all about free.99.

3. Use a work for hire agreement or put a work made for hire clause in your contract to protect your blog content.

Not all of us love writing our own blogs for our business. *Spoiler Alert* It pains me to write my posts, and takes all of my energy to sit down and put my thoughts on paper.

If you are like me, you have likely hired an independent contractor, copywriter, or virtual assistant to take over that task. When you outsource your blog posts, the person writing it for you is the author of the blog post, unless it is an employee.

However, you can protect yourself and content by having a work-for-hire agreement or clause in the service agreement. The work-for-hire agreement or term ensures that the contractor does not keep rights over the work created. 

Below is an example of a work-for-hire clause you can include in your agreement:
“ Any work performed by [Independent Contractor] while working with [Company Name] shall be considered a “Work Made for Hire” as defined in the U.S. Copyright laws, and shall be owned by and for the express benefit of [Company Name]. In the event it should be established that such work does not qualify as a Work Made for Hire, [Independent Contractor] agrees to and assigns to [Company Name] all of [Independent Contractor]’s  right, title, and interest in such work product including, but not limited to, all copyrights and other proprietary rights.”

4. Include an intellectual property clause in your terms and conditions

When blogging for business, you need to have the legal aspects of your business setup. This includes having terms and conditions on your website. Terms and conditions are guidelines on how your site visitors can behave while visiting your site.

Your intellectual property clause should discuss:

• How they can share your blog or content
• If there is any type of license
• The consequences of copying your blog content.

Now that you know how to protect your blog posts while blogging for your business, find out how you can protect your Instagram posts.

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