These kinds of precautions aren’t uncommon, and it’s easy to see why firms put them in place. A recent study found 52 percent of workers surveyed would access company networks insecurely while working remotely, even though 90 percent of those polled said they were aware that doing so was unwise and represented a security risk. However, companies that have these kind of barriers to distributed and remote work in order to try to “lock down” and protect their IP risk being left behind in a changing world.

The commonly accepted definition of what can and can’t be “owned” when it comes to digital information is rapidly evolving, and it will only continue to do so in our lifetime. This change in the way people perceive digital ownership may have originally been spurred on by the consumer sector (people now tend to pay for access to digital media, for example, instead of buying physical goods, like CDs), but just as consumer hardware and software is flooding the enterprise, a looser definition of digital and intellectual property is also in the process of catching on with employees and certain companies.

Consider Mark Zuckerberg’s statement in The Social Network that if the Winklevoss twins could’ve created Facebook, they would have. It’s an attitude I hear a lot from startup founders, which basically amounts to a belief that ideas are only worthwhile if acted upon, and that any claims to “ownership” not backed up by action are of little consequence, and it’s an attitude that seems to be gaining traction.

Distributed work is haunted by the idea that once information leaves the physical office, it becomes incredibly vulnerable to theft by an enemy perceived to be constantly at the gates. However, in most cases, people just aren’t that interested in a company’s information to begin with (companies tend to overestimate the value of their IP), and as the core concept of what can and can’t be owned in the digital world is inexorably changing, companies that try to resist the shift and lock down their IP will get overtaken by others that are enthusiastically embracing distributed work.

Of course, information has value, and the idea of digital ownership isn’t without its practical uses. But even though it may seem difficult to imagine now, most industries will eventually end up using technologies that may at one time have been considered “risky,” including ones that foster remote work and the use of distributed teams. Fifteen years ago, the idea of an employee accessing a workplace network from home and moving files back and forth using their own laptop, phone or tablet would’ve seemed inconceivable, but we got here. As we continue to negotiate the tricky waters of digital ownership, the safe bet to make is that policies surrounding company IP will relax,  and to plan accordingly.

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When it does happen, what should you do?

Document first

The first thing you should do is to document the act of infringement itself.  Since there are so many things for you to document – from screenshots to various site stats and rankings – I’ll just point the way to other articles that have covered the documentation process exhaustively:

• Dealing With Online Copyright Infringement from MarketingDock.com
• FAQ: What Can I Do About Internet Copyright Infringement? at SEO Logic

Try to communicate

Unless the theft seems malicious or has serious consequences, it often helps to take a calm, but firm approach.  While you may be hurt initially, don’t get emotional when writing that first email or making that call.  After all, they might not have had proper knowledge of copyright law when they did it, or it might be an honest mistake (such as what happened to fellow WWD blogger Aliza Sherman a few months back).  Show them the facts and tell them what they need to do to set things straight.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should have warm, fuzzy feelings for copyright violators.  There is a huge difference between a scraper site and 10 year old girl who is a first-time blogger.  It’s perfectly fair to get web hosts and search engines to ban the former, but it would be an unnecessarily scathing experience for the latter.

The point I am trying to make is that when you communicate with the person at fault, do it formally.  Don’t send a flaming rant or make a defamatory post in your blog.  (Yet.)  Remember that you’re a professional, and everything you send out must show this.  If it is an obvious, honest mistake that can be fixed with a little communication, then it’s best to take that route.

Get help

If you’re unsure how to approach this situation, look at the legal facts and turn to a professional.  There are some websites where you can get free legal advice, which you can use as a starting point to clear up the legal aspects of the violation.  Also, familiarize yourself with the actual provisions and exceptions of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act).  If reading the actual text seems too tedious for you, at least read the Wikipedia page on the DMCA.

It’s important to remember that nothing beats the advice of a licensed lawyer that you can discuss all these things with.  That’s why I noted in a previous post that a lawyer is one of the most important contacts you could ever have.

This is especially important if the case is vague, such as two blog posts discussing the same subject with the same angle, or two website templates that look similar.

Copyright infringement may be rampant, but many internet users are starting to take it seriously.  There might come a day when it no longer happens, but until then, we should be standing up for our rights to our work.

Has your work been stolen online? What did you do about it?

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