Stop people from copying my images, how?!

[cjamesme]

HI,

 

Can anyone tell me how to stop people copying and pasting images from my oscommerce site? Is there any code I would add or do I change image permissions?

 

Thanks

[germ]

You can make it more difficult to copy images but not impossible.

 

The best approach is to watermark them in such a way no one WANTS to use them (IMHO).

[jhande]

Chris, Jim is correct... you can not stop anyone who really wants your images. You can only make it a little more difficult for them to get.

 

There's basically only two things that you can do in hopes to prevent image theft. Notice I said "in hopes" as even these steps won't totally deter some folks.

 

One - create a visible water mark in your image using a graphics program. That makes it more work for anyone to use it as they will have to edit the images to remove your mark.

 

Two - use a service such as Digimarc. But are your images worth $500 a year? That doesn't prevent theft, only gives you the ability to track it down on the internet.

 

Best solution... stop worrying about your images getting taken and feel honored they are good enough someone wants to use them.

 

Hotlinking is a different subject. ;)

[cjamesme]

Cheers Jim and Jim! I will use Adobe to watermark them.