How to best safeguard your Ebook from theft & illegal distribution?

Hello,
there are many programs available that you will hear about in posts to come,
the best advice that I can give to you is to not waste time on getting your ebook out,
as there will never be enough protection.

If your book is on the internet, it will get hijacked, that can be depended on. You can use something like Dlguard that is sold by a member of this forum but I forget his name. I am sure you will find it if you use Google.

Spend your time on getting more people to buy the product and don't waste too much time worrying about those few that will steal it. Your time will be much better spent on generating more sales.

Protecting your download-site is one thing ... but of course that doesn't stop anyone who's bought the e-book from circulating it, uploading it to torrent sites, and so on. (In other words, it isn't much good).

The two main options, it seems, are ...

(a) Use a .exe-file instead of a PDF, or ...

(b) Use something like e-Junkie's "stamp-device" which stamps the buyer's personal details and transaction number on each page of a PDF before they download it, in an attempt to discourage "sharing".

Every time this has been discussed here (and I've started threads about it, myself), I've learned/re-learned five main things ...

(i) Some internet marketers hate .exe-file e-books, they believe that Mac users can't read them, they don't want to open them themselves and they believe that customers don't want to open them either - some even believe that their customers would need to be connected to the internet just to read one (some of this isn't true at all, but it's what people believe, and sometimes the perception is more significant than the reality);

(ii) Other internet marketers have sold tens of thousands of .exe-file e-books - probably not to internet marketers! - without anyone ever requesting a refund for that reason (though I'm sure they make it clear on the sales page, before people pay, that it's a .exe-file e-book);

(iii) Some people - strangely - believe that the fact that there's no such thing as "total security" means that the high relative security you can easily arrange isn't worth having (not easy to account for this view);

(iv) Some people believe that "if people are going to steal your e-book or download it illegally, they were never going to be paying customers anyway" and that because of that, your financial loss caused by thieves is actually negligibly small (this one's nonsense: the world is full of people who will look around for an illegal download of an e-book they want but then buy it if they can't find one - and people who don't accept that don't live on the same planet as me);

(v) There are even people who think that being concerned enough about this issue to want to discuss it at all is "negativity" (bit of a weird one, there - can't quite account for it: I always feel like asking them if they lock their front doors when they go out, or regard that as "negativity").

I'm "just saying" ...

Some people suggest to put in affiliate links at relevant places within the pdf, so that perhaps you can still make some sales from related products listed in the event it is distributed illegally. Of course, the other side of the argument is that those that may steal your product would also be unwilling to pay for any mentioned within a pdf.

Debbie

I use DLGuard, but that only protects your download location with expiring urls. Once it is purchased and downloaded (and then most likely a Paypal dispute follows so they don't even have to pay for it), it can be distributed.

I tried the exe method. Hardly sold any and people with Macs requested a pdf because they said they couldn't open it on a mac.

Tried the method where all the info is watermarked and it wreaked havoc with the links in the pdf and people requested a pdf where the links worked.

DMCAs work very well if you do find someone with hosting in the US who is sharing or selling it from their own site.

This might be controversial but I'll say it anyway.

People are always going to steal you stuff, and it's pretty much impossible to stop the scumbags..
so take advantage of it.

Include affiliate links and cross sells inside your PDF.

Hi Smak,

It is really tough to protect your book online. They dont need to use your ebook in its pure form. They can re-write your information. There is no real way to protect it from people with the intention to steal your information.

That said it is actually a compliment that people take your material because it is good and it works. Besides, much of the information is already available online and what different IM products do is to re-arrange parts of it in order for the reader to understand. I wont be surprised to see that unique products contain whole chunks of information similar on your ebook.

The way forward would be to keep creating more products and improving them! That is the only way people cannot copy you, because it is an improvement attitude, not a piece of information.

I hope this helps you in your IM career! Good luck!

Plan for it to get stolen in your marketing plan. In fact, if it does not get stolen you should consider it a flop.

Now how do you plan for it to get stolen?

1. Like others have said, put affiliate links in the PDF. (the exe route is a bad route. Sales will go way down and chargebacks and refunds way up)

2. Upsell products and services that can't be stolen.

3. Upsell a physical product.

4. Upsell 1 on 1 coaching.

5. Upsell a membership.

6. Include a companion product, like additional information, details, services etc that they have to have a username and login to access. The only way to get the username to access the additional stuff is to buy the ebook.

Now if your ebook does not get stolen and you still think it's not a flop... Steal it yourself and upload it to file sites, torrents, post it on forums etc...

Re's
Rob Whisonant

Something to think about: if Stephen King can't stop people from pirating his work, neither can you.

However, Stephen King still writes and makes millions.

You might want to think of this in the same way as physical books. If people read your book without buying it, say if they borrowed a copy from someone or got it from the library, is this bad?

Nope. You still get your name out there as the writer/creator and if you put your affiliate links on it then you can still make money even on pirated ebooks.

Password protection is the best option I know of if you do it a certain way.It is vulnerable if done only on PDF but one way around this vulnerability is to insert the PDF into a Word document and then password protect the Word document

To insert the PDF into Word:
In Word, go to the Insert menu and press Object
Click on the Create From File tab
Click on Browse and select the PDF file you want to protect
Click on OK to close the Object window
The PDF document is displayed in Word and if you double-click on the page it will open it in Adobe.

To password protect the Word file:
Go to the File menu and press Save As
Click on Tools at the top right-hand corner of the Save As Window and press Security Options
Enter the password and click OK, you will be asked to re-enter the password
Then press Save

You can delete the original PDF if you wish as it now exists in the Word document.

I think its true that there's pretty much always going to be a leak somewhere.

People pirate everything these days- ebooks, movies, music, computer games- you name it.

Worrying about it too much won't do much good I don't think. Instead focus on selling it to your customers- even if 1,000 people in the U.S. know about your leaked ebook, there are another 300 million (and the rest of the world!) who don't :-)

One of the first, at least that I saw advertised, was IMC - The Best Ebook Solution for You . Unfortunately, the owner died several years ago, so there are now new owners, and they promise to recommend the best for you. I don't know how true that is, of course, but the statements they made about PDF non portability are valid and interesting. It is interesting that PDFs have that problem. Nobody ever thought to handle aspect ratio and small screens because it was designed before anyone really did such a thing.

Yet ANOTHER thing to consider.

Anyway, ebookpro's selling point was that if there was a dispute later, you could disable it. The person was given like a few runs over a few days and if it failed to connect within that time, they weren't allowed to read. If it connected, and returned an invalid code(like a chargeback), they couldn't read. If it connected and returned a VALID code, it worked fine. Of course, that WAS a nuisance, and DID add more potential for problems.

BTW it ALSO requires a server, which THEY provide, and registered keys for the server, which they SELL! That means your cost goes up, and your business depends on THEIRS.

ONE business, about a decade ago, worked its way into intercepting MILLIONS of affiliate codes. It simplified management and tracking. It ALSO provided income to people that referred other affiliates to them. Those links may STILL be in TONS of emails, ebooks, etc... The owner sold it to another company that directed ALL links to THEM! Interestingly, the link now goes to ANOTHER site of the original owner. Many claimed to be making TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars through links to that site, from the target affiliate programs, and NOW, they make not one penny! So that IS another thing to consider.

To the best of my knowledge, there was NO notice! O course, such notice was worthless, since the attraction here was TRACING that which was otherwise not trackable. Websites generally have tracking built in. Most links here were Email and Ebooks, and such things can't be changed once distributed.

Steve

No matter what, people are going to share files so there really isn't much you can do other than really brand the hell out of your book and make it so good that your buyers aren't really compelled to do this.

Also, make sure that the subpages of your website are protected from being crawled. I couldn't tell you how many ebooks are accessible just from a site: search on Google.

Beat them at their own game. Keep all of your affiliate links intact and share it on torrent directories and file sharing sites. Those who will buy will still buy, and those who steal will still bring you some profit. If you let someone else pirate it, they will put their own affiliate links on it.

This has worked for me in the past. Just make sure it's quality content worth stealing

There are some programs you can buy, and you can also get a VA to watch out for them. I used to drive myself nuts with pirated versions of my products, but since I just stopped caring and spending all the time I used to spend being mad about and trying to combat thieves I actually managed to attract a ton more honest and legit customers, and make a lot of money.

I know I that I lose some money, I figure probably 40/50K a year to pirates, but honestly I don't want the people who take the time to search out the stolen versions anyway as they would probably still buy from me and then just either charge me back or refund anyway.

I could be wrong, but thats my take.

Hey! when they share your products online for free they will spread your name out there in the market and you can be famous in no time, and if your product is worth the money and will help someone achieve his goals he will certainly buy it even if he have it already . Most of them do believe me.So don't bother your self with this and get the hell of your book out in the market

It might be a bit cumbersome for your purpose but a possible workaround, if you really are concerned about theft issues, is to sell access to the content.

Instead of an ebook or a PDF, put your content in a membership section where only those who bought can log in and read the content on a page or post.

They have to log in. No theft.

You can also protect the login details. (IP tracking etc.)

PS: They could still copy, paste, and share though. ; )

It's so old concept, nowadays we even run ads to give away our books. You want people to read your books, paid or unpaid.
I have memory of reading a book other people copied somewhere, but it was an older edition, the book is very good, so I end up buying a new one latest version.