How safe is anyone's copyright online?
Well imagine my surprise when I clicked on a website link to discover that someone had not only copied my website to their server - but was selling my ebook and undercutting me
in the process! Some dishonest person operating from Eastern Europe had literally stolen my entire business and I discovered it only by sheer luck.
After some very lengthy and threatening emails I got themshut down, but the question remains, how safe is your copyright online and what can you do to protect it?
Traditionally written works have enjoyed copyright protection not only through the rule of law, but also because of the physical difficulty in stealing another person's work. Let's face it, photocopying a 210 page book rates about as much fun as watching paint dry and at 6 cents a page you're talking a quick ten dollar printing bill.
If you steal someone's book, print up a thousand copies and try to get it onto the local bookstore's shelves, the chances of getting caught rank pretty high.
But the online world has changed those rules and physical safeguards significantly. The Internet, email and the Web make it easier than ever to steal someone else's work. With
the most basic skills and a few mouse clicks, someone can take your book, your website, and along with it weeks, months, and even years of your hard work.