TPMs are technologies that control and/or restrict the use of and access to online content. Examples of TPMs include:

• Digital watermarks (text or patterns inserted into digital images)
• Encryption (inhibits copying of digital files and physical media)
• PDFs saved as PDF/A

Copyright owners may include a statement outlining terms of use. For example, a poet may state that works posted to their website may not be used for educational purposes without permission.

Alternatively, works published under a Creative Commons license allow copyright owners to clearly communicate what uses of their work they permit. For more information on Creative Commons, visit the Copyright Alternatives guide. 

Copyright owners today have numerous free and subscription-based tools to help detect online duplication of their works. Here are a few examples:

• Copyscape

  Enter the URL for your website and Copyscape will search the web for copies of your content.

• Tineye

  Upload your image or point Tineye to the URL where it can be found online and it will search the web for copies of your image (including near matches that have been cropped, recolored, scaled, etc.)

Copyright protection is automatic but owners may also wish to register their work with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). This serves as a record of copyright ownership should a need to defend your copyright arise.

If you notice that your work is being used illegally, contact the copyright infringer (or service provider) and ask that the content be taken down (for online content) or licensed legally.