How to Prevent Text Selection and Copy/Paste in WordPress: An In-Depth Guide

As a webmaster with over 15 years of experience, I know firsthand how frustrating content scraping can be. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll explain exactly why and how to prevent text selection and copying on your WordPress site.

Why Content Scraping Matters

Before we dive into the methods, you should understand the scale of the content scraping problem. According to DataReportal, over 52% of all website traffic is automated bots and scrapers. Many of these bots steal copyrighted content.

This means if you run a content-focused site, there‘s a good chance your hard work is being reused without permission. A 2018 study found that 57% of creators have had their content stolen at some point. This copying costs content creators an estimated $7.2 billion per year in lost revenue.

So in certain cases, preventing text selection can be a smart strategy to protect your income as a blogger or content marketer. Next I‘ll show you two great ways to do it in WordPress.

Method #1: Using Custom CSS to Disable Text Selection

The easiest way to prevent text copying across your entire WordPress site is by adding a small custom CSS code snippet.

Follow these simple steps:

1. Login to your WordPress dashboard, and go to Appearance > Customize.
2. Click on the Additional CSS tab on the left.
3. Paste the following snippet into the text box:

* { 
  -webkit-touch-callout: none;
  /* iOS Safari */
  -webkit-user-select: none; 
  /* Safari */
  -khtml-user-select: none;
  /* Konqueror HTML */
  -moz-user-select: none;
  /* Old versions of Firefox */
  -ms-user-select: none;
  /* Internet Explorer/Edge */
  user-select: none;
  /* Non-prefixed version, currently supported by Chrome, Opera and Firefox */
}

4. Click Publish to save your changes.

This will disable text selection on all major browsers for your whole site. Give it a try – you shouldn‘t be able to highlight or copy any text on your pages now.

The benefit of this method is it‘s fast and easy to apply. The downside is that it prevents text selection everywhere, so users can‘t copy even short snippets they want to cite.

Next let‘s look at how plugins can offer more fine-grained control.

Method #2: Using a Plugin to Disable Copying

A plugin like WP Content Copy Protection gives you more options for preventing copying. Here are the steps to use it:

1. Install and activate the WP Content Copy Protection plugin.
2. Go to Settings > Copy Protection to customize options.
3. Disable right click, text selection, and printing as needed.
4. Change the print restriction message if desired.
5. Click Save Settings.

By default, the plugin will prevent selecting, copying, printing, and right clicking across your site. But under the hood you can selectively enable or disable protection by post/page.

Some of the configuration options include:

Feature	Default Setting
Disable text selection	On
Disable right click	On
Show print message	On
Print restriction message	"Printing disabled"

So with a plugin, you get more granular control compared to a site-wide CSS approach. The ability to customize messages is also useful.

However, plugins add overhead and can impact site performance if not properly optimized. So the CSS method may be better for simpler sites.

Below I‘ve compared some of the most popular anti-copy plugins for WordPress:

Plugin	Rating	Key Features
WP Content Copy Protection	4.5/5	Free, simple interface
Anti-Content Theft	4.3/5	Protection by user role
Copy Protect	4.1/5	Stealth copy prevention

Should You Prevent Text Selection?

Now that you know how to prevent text selection in WordPress, should you use these techniques? Here are a few pros and cons to consider:

Pros of Preventing Text Copying:

• Makes automated scraping and wholesale copying much harder
• Helps protect your monetizable written content
• Forces people to properly cite and credit your work

Cons of Preventing Text Copying:

• Frustrates users who want to copy small portions properly
• Tech savvy users can still get around it by viewing source code
• Hurts SEO as users can‘t easily share snippets on social media
• Preventing all copying may violate fair use copyright principles

My advice is to first optimize your content for search engines. For example, publish high-quality, unique content, and follow SEO best practices.

If you‘re still experiencing a heavy amount of content theft after optimizing, then selectively enabling text protection for some pages may be a reasonable approach.

But assess the tradeoffs carefully, and don‘t prevent copying on every page. Focus protection on your most valuable written content to start.

Sending DMCA Takedown Notices

As an alternative to technical solutions, you can fight back against scrapers by sending DMCA takedown notices.

The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) is a U.S. copyright law that requires websites to remove infringing content on request.

Here‘s a brief overview of the DMCA takedown process:

1. Locate your stolen content – Use search engines to find unauthorized copies.

2. Identify the web host – Determine who is hosting the offending site.

3. Send a takedown notice – Draft a formal notice asserting your copyrights.

4. Allow counternotice – Provide the ability for the other party to issue a counternotice.

5. Seek court order – If no compliance, you may take legal action.

DMCA notices can be effective at fighting scrapers. Just be sure to consult an intellectual property lawyer, as there are strict notice requirements.

I hope this guide gave you a very thorough overview of how to prevent copying and text selection in WordPress. Please let me know if you have any other questions!