How can I prevent users copying material off my site?

The straight forward answer is you just cant do it! Whatever you do, a determined user with only basic browser skills can get the content off the page. Anti-Right clicks just don't work, people just save the page, or disable the javascript in their browser. Serving pages in .pdf formats is the best protection I know, but people can still save the page and transcribe the text. I have seen very nifty encryption scripts that prevent material being downloaded or scrambled, but once people know this they can use an image capture tool to 'photograph' the page while they view it in the browser. This can then be printed out, or run through an OCR scanner to return the capture image back to digital text. It goes with the territory of internet usage, I'm afraid. If they can see it, they can copy it. Additions by Grover:Keeping Thieves Out Indeed, you'll never stop a really determined thief but that misses the point. As they say, "locks only keep honest people out." There are however a number of effective techniques to disuade "honest" thieves, the kind that comprise 99% of the pirates online. They see it, they like it, they grab it not to profit from it but simply to enjoy it and share with others under the mistaken assumption that, well it's probably okay. One of your most potent tools to protect your content is a strongly-worded statement of copyright. This will come in handy in any future litigation. Make registration manditory and include that statement in the Terms of Use. If they are unwilling to take the time to register then maybe the content isn't all you thought it was and you can stop worrying. Remove icons or links that make it easy to print or print to PDF or send the entire article instead of a link. The following little javascript will disable right click, drag and select. That will certainly dissuade the less-than-determined. Put it in your theme.html file if it's a Xoops site.

Finally, if someone is using your stuff, litigate and make it widely-known that you did. You have exclusive rights to your creative work. On the other hand if someone is using some little graphic on a non-commercial site I see no harm in letting them use it as long as they credit it. That choice is yours, however. Don't be shy about slamming them for infringement, naming names and location if they refuse. Moreover report them to their provider if the misuse is egregous. Purse them relentlessly and advertise that fact. If they have a significant web presence, do some sleuthing, tell their neighbours, competitors, frinds and crosslinked sites. Photos and graphics can be embedded in Flash and Shockwave files. With a little fancy coding you can disable a lot of keys, mouse buttons and even prevent hosting or linking outside of your site. Of course with a lot of effort someone can screen capture but what they get is a useless low-res piece of $#@& that, IMHO, they are welcome to. Incidentally, FlashPaper shows a lot of promise for wrapping images but the way it has been implemented thus far does not include disable print. Let's hope it will in future iterations. Also, hard-coding the host site right in the swf file would be a nice, easily-implemented feature. Are you listening Macromedia? Indeed there IS a lot you can do with very limited effort to dissuade the real theives out there: the naive, the sleezy and inept.

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