Securing online content and images

The Internet is a great visual tool for displaying artwork and photos. 
However, because the source code for Web pages is easily accessible, there is no
tried and true method to completely secure your copyright-protected work on the
Internet, other than not
posting them, any more than you can prohibit people from photocopying text in a book.  I've seen a variety of
ways that people have used to block stealing of photos and artwork that are
posted in Web pages.  One way is to disable the right-click, another is to
replace the good image with a bogus image on mouseover.  Both of these
ways, at best, slow a visitor down.  Let me explain why each of these do
not provide a good level of security for your online content and images.

Disabling right click

I've seen many requests from people for script that disables the right-click
on their Web pages.  Very often, someone has seen this on another Web site
and thought it was a good idea for securing their own artwork or photos. 
However, although a visitor doesn't have access to the right click for the page
displayed, they generally do have access to the menu bar, and on the View
menu, there is a Source option that allows people to open up the source
code in a text editor, such as Notepad.

You may think that the source code isn't going to help them much, but it
does.  For example, say the following HTML code is in one of your pages,
and this displays a photo that you took and are selling on your Web site.

 <img src="awardwinningphoto.jpg">

Viewing the source gives the visitor the name of the image file, and the path
to the Web page gives the visitor the rest.  So, say for example the path
to the page where the above HTML occurs is
https://www.cohowinery.com/html/awardwinningphoto.htm.  All someone needs to
do is open up the file https://www.cohowinery.com/html/awardwinningphoto.jpg in
the browser, and once they view it in the browser, they can right-click on it
and choose Save Picture As.

Replace Image on Mouseover

Another trick that Web designers and developers use to prohibit stealing of
artwork and photos is to replace one image with another image when the visitor
mouses over it.  This also would seem to be great for securing online
images.  After all, if they can't right-click on the image and choose Save
Picture As, they can't steal the image, right? However, as with the right-click,
the best this does is slow them down.  If someone really wants to steal an
image, they can easily view the source and get the filename and path to the
image, and do what I described above.

Then how can I secure my images?

Many Web designers and developer would answer that question by saying to not
post the images, but if you make your living out of selling your photos or
paintings, this may not be an option for you, so there are a few things that you
can do.

  1. Post lower quality graphics.   When someone tries to steal an image,
    they won't get a great quality picture, just a representation of what the
    image looks like.  If they attempt to enlarge it, the quality will be
    poor enough to discourage even the most determined. 
  2. Use a digital copyright.   A digital copyright acts as a
    digital signature, and as with digital signatures, you need to purchase a
    digital copyright and use a graphics application to add it to your images. 
    I'm no expert on this, so I won't even attempt to explain how it works or
    how to do it.  Take a look at resources on line from experts if you're
    interested in using a digital copyright for your online content and images. 
    If I understand this correctly, a digital copyright doesn't print but
    provides a legally binding way for you to recover loses if someone
    appropriates your intellectual property.
  3. Use a watermark on the image. A watermark is a usually text
    overlayed on top of an image, perhaps a copyright symbol, your name and the
    date.  It will certainly discourage people from taking images, but it
    can also disfigure an image to the point where it may not be
    distinguishable.  This option is my least favorite of the three. 
    Why?  If I want to print out a picture to see if it goes with my
    favorite bedspread or the couch in the den, the watermark disfigures the
    image to the point where printing it will not give me a good idea of whether
    the picture will work for me or not, making me far less likely to buy the
    finished product because I don't know if it's exactly right for what I want.

While the information age does bring new problems and opportunities for
people to cause harm, as you decide what is best for displaying your artwork,
photos, and other online content, keep in mind that most who come to your site
are just there to browse and perhaps shop and buy. Consider how you want people
to use your site and provide needed security without inhibiting how visitors
will use your site.