Well imagine my surprise when I clicked on a website link to discover that someone had not only copied my website to their server - but was selling my ebook and undercutting me in process! Some dishonest person operating from Eastern Europe had literally stolen my entire business and I discovered it only by sheer luck.

After some very lengthy and threatening emails I got them shut down, but question remains, how safe is your copyright online and what can you do to protect it?

Traditionally written works have enjoyed copyright protection not only through rule of law, but also because of physical difficulty in stealing another person's work. Let's face it, photocopying a 200 page book rates about as much fun as watching paint dry and at 5 cents a page you're talking a quick ten dollar printing bill.

If you steal someone's book, print up a thousand copies and try to get it onto local bookstore's shelves, chances of getting caught rank pretty high.

But online world has changed those rules and physical safeguards significantly. The Internet, email and Web make it easier than ever to steal someone else's work. With most basic skills and a few mouse clicks, someone can take your book, your website, and along with it weeks, months, and even years of your hard work.

Though intellectual property and international copyright laws apply to online works, enforcement of those laws is expensive and, in many cases, hard to enforce.

Well don't despair, you do have options if you find someone has violated your copyright online. Anytime I find someone violating my copyright, which isn't very often, I take these three steps in rapid-fire fashion.

1) Research, Research, Research.

The biggest difference between good copywriters and great copywriters is research. Before you start writing your copy, do work. Research product or service. Research your (or your clients) product or service. More importantly though, research and study as many of competitors as you can find for which realistic time allows. Gather as much data on you product (or service) and your market as possible. After researching gathered material, ask questions. As you study material, write down questions you will need answered. Believe me, more you research, more questions you will have. Ask those questions that you have not yet answered in your mind, about your own product or service, or a clients product or service. There is no such thing as a dumb question.

2) Use Adjectives and Adverbs.

If you are a writer or have ever studied writing, I'm sure that your instructors burned into your mind, fact that you need to minimize use of adjectives and adverbs. Well, I'm here to tell you that they are wrong...well at least in copywriting arena that is. You don't offer a service; you offer a Quick, Reliable Service. You don't offer a program; you offer a New, Comprehensive Program Package. Get my drift writer? Even best of writers have blocks. Do yourself a favor. Always have available on your desk, kitchen table or wherever you work, a good dictionary and best Thesaurus you can find. If you don't have those available (or even if you do), here are best Dictionary & Thesaurus sites on web. Do yourself a favor use them!

OneLook Dictionaries Dictionary.com WWWebster Dictionary Thesaurus.com

3) Use Laser-Like Alignment.

The most successful copywriters know that they must keep their copywriting aligned with market niche. Don't generalize your ad copy. When writing copy, imagine your message as a laser beam. Do you want a tight, focused and powerful beam, or a wider, less concentrated and weaker message? Every business has a niche market, and with all marketing functions, your ad copy should be aligned with that niche. The moral of story; don't try to please everybody!

4) One Testimonial is Worth a Thousand Words.