It's only fair to share...

A couple of months ago I posted about intellectual property infringement (in other words, copying photos or writing) and promised to tell you how to find out if your photos and/or writing have been posted anywhere online.

Wan’t to see if there is a Catfish out there, passing off your Facebook profile pics as their own? Have a popular food recipe and want to see if someone posted any of the content without permission?

Whether it is a site where you’d like your photos to be present, or a user who has “stolen” your photo without permission, this is a great way to find most of them. You do not need to be a blogger for this tutorial. This is for anyone with writing or any photos you would like to track.

In a few weeks I will also post how to report when someone has used your content without permission. Fun times.

 

1. Go to the image you want to trace and right-click on it. Scroll down, then select, “copy image URL” or “copy image link.”

 

 This is from my cupcake-stuffed strawberries recipe.

2.  Go to Google and paste in the search bar. Then click on “images.” I usually then click on “all sizes” next to the top image, as well as “Visually similar images” halfway down the screen.  

…”all sizes” gives me this result:

…”Visually similar images” gives me this:

Not as many results, but since this is a match based on appearance, you may be able to find some that were screen shots of your photo or ones where the URL has been changed (if someone knows more about this feel free to leave tips in the comment section.)

You can also just scroll through the, “pages that include matching images” starting at the bottom of the original image search screen.  

ANOTHER OPTION for searching for your image on the internet is to do this:

Open up the site with your image in one tab, then Google in another tab. Left-click the image and drag it over into the Google tab.

This is something I set up not only to see if others use my photos, but to also see my name, my blog’s name or my writing possibly posted elsewhere.

Let’s say I want alerts notifying me of content that could be relevant to my cupcake stuffed strawberries.

1. Type: www.google.com/alerts

2. Fill out the keyword you would like to track, how often you would like the alert, and your email.

3. Wait.. If someone posts something using those key words that are recognized by Google search, it will pop up in your email.

Boom.

Now, if you find someone has infringed on your intellectual property rights (or “stolen” your content, as some call it), stay tuned for a full post with all of the links and instructions for reporting, depending on where you find it.

Don’t forget to check out my article about common misconceptions regarding “copying” content:

Copyright Issues, and Why They Cause a Lot of Drama Mama. It’s all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

****If you are considering posting up photos or ideas from this or any other posts I am truly happy that you are excited and find my recipes interesting enough to share with others. Please see copyright standards in the footer (bottom) AND follow them!!!! In other words, 1 photo WITH credit+ link back, and do NOT copy and paste my instructions!

It's only fair to share...