Here’s one quasi-solution to thwarting content theft on the internet.

Let’s face it. No security system is foolproof. Clients often ask me how they can protect their content from internet interlopers who would rather steal someone else’s hard work than do their own.

But you can make it more difficult for copyright infringers to swipe your PDF files.

It’s called PDF stamping.

PDF stamping provides an added layer of protection when it comes to keeping track of WHO may be ripping you off by making someone think twice about sharing your work. Here’s how it works…

A PDF stamper essentially “stamps” your PDF with information about who downloaded/bought your product. You are in control of choosing what information gets stamped onto the PDF. For example: the purchaser’s name, order ID# and email address. You can see how this would be a deterrent to sharing, right? It makes it easy to identify the person who is sharing your content without prior authorization. You can even stamp every page of your PDF.

How to do it…

Some products offer PDF stamping as an added feature (Sendowl, Adobe Acrobat, for example) but you can also stamp your PDFs with a WordPress plugin specifically designed to do that.

Like I said, this isn’t a foolproof method of protecting your content, but it’s better than taking no steps at all. You want to make sure you send the message that it’s not cool for anyone to rip you off.