How to plagiarism-proof an ebook?

[GreyHatNik]

Hi @BassTrackerBoats, I was told you would be the best person to answer this question for me.

If one was to release an ebook and start selling it online, whether that be on BHW or MP or anywhere else really- how exactly do you ensure that the contents of it won't be plagiarized by the first person who purchased it? In each sales thread where an ebook is being sold, you'll find the automod stating each ebook's similarity score and another mod had mentioned that the cut-off point is below 70% originality. That means you can't run it through a software like TurnItIn or have the search engines index it without it then deriving a 0% originality score.

My question is, how do we then prevent someone from simply buying the ebook and repurposing it into a blog post of theirs (like a definitive guide) or even just reselling it? Once it's posted somewhere and indexed, your content will never be viewed as "yours" anymore by the search engine algorithms. It'll be viewed as duplicate content and perhaps even warrant a penalty. What, then, would be a viable solution to prevent this from happening without compromising the ability to sell on BHW?

 

[Zwielicht]

Thread Moved​

Plagiarism-proofing your e-book is always going to be challenging.

You can disable copy-paste by enabling password protection and restricting editing. However, this won't stop someone with OCR software from snagging the text.

You can add a watermark over the written content, but that'll just annoy your readers and, using OCR as an example again, won't entirely someone from scanning it.

You can copyright the e-book and take legal action against those who steal the content, but that'll just be a lot of work on your end (and money).

 

[Starblazer]

Except copyright, nothing else can stop people from copying your ebook or stealing contents. Even if you take all the precautions, they might rewrite ebook themselves (or with the help of VAs). It's just like movie piracy. Once it's out, you should get returns within the shortest possible time. The good thing is that BHW ebooks usually won't leak outside the forum. I've seen several other sites where entire database of premium products get leaked.

 

[GreyHatNik]

Except copyright, nothing else can stop people from copying your ebook or stealing contents. Even if you take all the precautions, they might rewrite ebook themselves (or with the help of VAs). It's just like movie piracy. Once it's out, you should get returns within the shortest possible time. The good thing is that BHW ebooks usually won't leak outside the forum. I've seen several other sites where entire database of premium products get leaked.

Thread Moved​

Plagiarism-proofing your e-book is always going to be challenging.

You can disable copy-paste by enabling password protection and restricting editing. However, this won't stop someone with OCR software from snagging the text.

You can add a watermark over the written content, but that'll just annoy your readers and, using OCR as an example again, won't entirely someone from scanning it.

You can copyright the e-book and take legal action against those who steal the content, but that'll just be a lot of work on your end (and money).

Thanks for your responses guys.

To be honest, I don't mind having the ideas stolen or it being rewritten, I just don't want my content to copied verbatim. But I do see how much unnecessary discomfort I'd be putting my readers by adding these over-the-top regulations.

Just one question though. If let's say I chose to run it through a software like turnitin. When it comes time to do the compulsory plagiarism check prior to marketplace approval, is there a way that you could disregard the first result showing 100% plagiarism rate. What if you even set it to match your username and confirm that it truly is your content? That would, in a way, ameliorate a lot of issues moving forward and ensure that nobody can utilize your content to later rank in the SERPs. Is that at all a possibility?

 

[protonp12]

Copyright and cease-and-desist.