Writing a book and then publishing it requires a lot of effort. When they are about to publish their book, most authors start worrying about illegal copying, copyright issues, and eBook piracy. It is especially true for eBooks. This article will talk about concerns authors have when publishing their eBooks and ways to create an eBook that will ensure no one can copy it.
Do I need to Protect my eBook?
We want to clarify that you don’t need to buy any copyright protection for your eBook. Once you have written your eBook, you automatically own its rights.
However, you still have to work out ways to protect your work. Are you confused? It will get clear as you continue reading.
You need to know ways of proving that you wrote the book. So to answer the question, yes, you do need to protect your protect eBooks in some ways.
Can eBooks be Copied?
If you self-publish an eBook in a simple format with no protection, it can be copied easily. Anyone on the internet can copy the text from the eBook and put it on a new Word document or PDF document and republish it. It could be in their name. Yes, it is essential to protect your published eBook.
Why is it essential to protect my eBook?
The sad truth about the publishing industry and authors is that eBook piracy and the illegal distribution of eBooks on the internet is a serious issue. A commoner or a new author has no idea at the level of piracy. Authors and publishers are losing millions of dollars from eBook sales.
It does not mean you should let it happen. It would help if you are assured that there is no piracy and downloading your book illegally. You will have to protect your eBooks.
How do I Protect my Rights to my eBook?
You can protect your eBook files by having a copyright page. Even though it is not essential, it is always better to have a copyright claim. If someone wants to use the content of your book, they should know how to find you and take approvals.
The copyright page is simple to create – you can give your name, the copyright symbol, and the year.
For example, © Jai Singh 2021.
If you are publishing your own eBook, then you can give the name as below and also put a notice:
Published by Jai Singh
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or modified in any form, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Ways to protect your eBook
Putting a copyright protection page won’t stop people from unauthorized copying and illegally distributing your work. To protect your eBook, you can follow the ways below –
1. Use Digital Rights Management (DRM) Software
DRM protection is a service that takes your eBook and places it in a safe and secure location. The location is behind an encrypted gateway. How is it going to protect your eBook from eBook piracy?
The working is simple – anyone who wants to access the eBook is given a unique authentication key. The key cannot be transferred to anyone else. Also, they cannot download the eBook to computers or mobile. Hence, they cannot share it further. If they want to read your book, they will have to securely log in to a secured environment and read your eBooks.
2. Registering your eBook
In the world of technology, everything is possible. Let us assume someone did copy your work and published it under a different name. You want to drag that person to a court. The question is – how are you going to prove the original work belongs to you?
In such instances, having a legal registration of the book in your name works. You can register your eBook under your name, so you become the book owner in the eyes of the law. Now, if you want to sue anyone for using the content of your book, you can easily do it. It will ensure people don’t do it as they know it could lead them to trouble.
3. Watermark your eBook
Watermarking your eBook will not protect your eBook from illegal distribution, but it does help stop it. It prevents others from taking credit for your work when your name is plastered on all pages of your eBook. It would be best if you went with a digital watermark. It improves the security as they cannot be altered and removed and hence helps you fight copyright infringement on the web.
4. Password protection
If your eBook is on the web without any protection, the chances are, at some point, it will get into the wrong hands. People would pass the eBook files around with no acknowledgment for its author. You can put the download option behind a password to prevent this from happening. When someone purchases your eBook, you can send them a unique password on their email that allows them to download the eBook only once.
Do note, if that person wants, he can still share your book around with friends.
5. Restrict editing
You can secure your eBook before making it public by restricting editing, screen reading, and copying to clipboard options. Many tools allow you to do so. You can use one of them to prevent sharing and unauthorized changes from being made to your eBook.
6. Sharing PDF Format of your eBook
The PDF file is more secure than any other version for an eBook. The PDF document supports data encryption and offers a safe approach to transferring data over the net.
Conclusion
The sad truth is that the web is not user-friendly for eBook authors. Hence, you should take every possible measure to ensure your eBook is safe and no illegal distribution happens. It isn’t easy to catch if it does happen. So the better approach is to stop it from happening. We hope the above steps will help you in preventing it.
