How To Protect Your Video Content With WordPress

Video can be an excellent way to educate and entertain online users. However, if you’re not careful, your original video content could be stolen or used without your permission. So it's vital to know how you can protect video content with WordPress.

The good news is that there are plenty of tools that can help you with video protection. For instance, you could use a video hosting service with built-in safety measures. You can also take extra precautions such as using a logo watermark and strengthening user login security.

In this post, we’ll discuss why you may need to protect your videos. Then we’ll share some tools and tips for protecting video with WordPress. Let’s get started!

Why You May Need to Protect Video Content with WordPress

By default, WordPress is a secure Content Management System (CMS). With each new version, WordPress developers strive to improve security.

What's more, if you use a secure plugin like MemberMouse to build a paywalled WordPress site containing videos, it protects pages and posts by design:

However, content theft can still be an issue if your videos themselves aren't secured. People may be able to download your videos without your permission. Then they can make them available for free.

Additionally, if a video has a public sharing link, this can be passed along to non-paying users. In extreme cases, people might even screen-record your videos.

No matter how it happens, when your content is stolen and reposted elsewhere online, it can be disastrous for your business. It may damage your rankings in search results, hurt your company's reputation, and more.

Plus, it can be difficult to know if and when your content has been compromised. Furthermore, if your business' main product is original video content, you'll want to take extra measures to safeguard it. Otherwise, you'll have nothing to sell!

Who May Need to Protect Videos with WordPress

Educational websites offering premium online courses are at the greatest risk of having their content stolen. Since the video content is the product, safeguarding it is of the utmost importance.

Still, online education sites like Skillshare aren't the only ones that need to protect videos. Other types of ecommerce sites may offer ‘one off' original video content, such as workshops.

Alternately, a membership website that runs virtual events may want to share replays while still protecting the privacy of attendees.

3 Top Hosting Options for WordPress Video Protection

Now that you know a bit more about video content theft and who it can affect, we're going to discuss how to prevent it. The best way to protect video content with WordPress is by having a strong foundation. As a first step, that means using a dependable video hosting service.

While the native WordPress video block and video player are great, hosting your videos on your website's server isn't recommended, especially if you're planning to upload a lot of videos.

That's because video files are large, and saving them directly to your site can cause it to load slowly. As a result, this could damage the user experience and lose you customers.

With that in mind, here are three video hosting options you may want to consider.

Vimeo

If you've ever watched videos online, chances are you've heard of Vimeo:

While this platform isn't quite as popular as YouTube, it sets itself apart by being ad-free, even when you use a free plan.

If you want to securely host your videos, Vimeo's premium plans have great potential. Here are the main video protection features that Vimeo offers with most of its packages:

• Password protection
• Restricted video access
• Unlisted links for sharing
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Paid Vimeo plans also offer domain-level privacy. This means that you can choose which specific sites your videos are allowed to be embedded on. With Vimeo Enterprise plans, you'll also get added security and the ability to create custom permissions.

In addition to these security benefits, Vimeo-hosted videos feature a sleek video player with advanced controls. Plus, you'll get access to professional video templates, and you'll be able to use customization tools like a GIF maker.

Vimeo also gives you access to analytics, marketing tools, and more. Plus, all of its paid plans allow for advanced collaboration and video management.

Pricing: Vimeo's Starter plan costs $12 per seat per month. This allows for up to 60 videos. You can always upgrade to a bigger plan if you need more.

Wistia

Next up, let's take a look at Wistia. While this video hosting option is less mainstream, it can a decent level of video protection:

However, you'll need at least a Wistia Pro plan to get the most essential video security features. These include the following:

• Password protection
• Private video links
• Email gating

Although you'll need a higher plan to get the minimum security protections, Wistia plans are otherwise generous. For example, the Pro plan allows for up to 500 videos.

What's more, Wistia comes with tons of useful integrations, such as for various social media platforms and Zoom. Additionally, it can offer basic analytics, A/B testing, and tons of additional marketing and performance tools.

Plus, both Wistia and Vimeo work great alongside MemberMouse!

Pricing: Wistia plans start at $19 per month. However, you'll need at least a Pro plan for password protection, which is $79 per month.

wave.video

Finally, let's check out wave.video:

This robust platform offers free and premium video hosting, a video editor, and live steaming options.

Here's what you can get with wave.video:

• Password protection
• Basic or advanced video permissions
• Limits on screen sharing

The upside of using wave.video is that password protection comes included even in the free plan. However, with the free option you'll only get five videos, and your content will feature the wave.video watermark.

In particular, wave.video has a lot of potential when it comes to live streaming. This could make it a good option if you run lot of events and webinars.

Pricing: wave.video offers a free plan, but it's somewhat limited. Premium options start at $16 per month.

5 Additional Tips and Tools for Protecting Video with WordPress

Choosing the right video host can go a long way when it comes to protecting videos with WordPress. The security features they offer can eliminate the majority of potential issues.

Still, there are a few extra tips and tools that can help you further safeguard your video content with WordPress. Let's explore five of the most useful techniques.

1. Remove the Video Download Button

As we mentioned earlier, one of the biggest risks is users downloading and sharing your video content elsewhere online. One great way to stop this is by simply removing the video download button in your video player.

You can do this using a plugin such as WPShield Content Protector:

A premium version of the tool will allow you to easily disable the download button in the plugin's settings. Plus, it's compatible with most major video players.

Depending on the plan you select, this plugin can also help you protect your videos against hotlinking. Additionally, it can let you disable developer and inspect tools, so that content thieves won't be able to access your content that way.

2. Strengthen User Login Security

Using a membership model to secure your video content is an excellent strategy. However, user accounts can always become compromised.

To prevent this, you can strengthen user login security. For instance, brute force attacks, in which hackers try to gain access to accounts by trying different passwords, can be a big problem.

However, you can use a tool that limits login attempts in order to stop this. Here are a few other ways you can boost user login security:

• Enforce strong passwords
• Implement reCAPTCHA tests
• Require 2FA for all users

The good news is that some WordPress security plugins come with these features. Wordfence Security may be a good choice if you're also interested in a security scanner and firewall.

3. Add a Unique Identifier to Your Videos

If you're worried about people stealing your videos and passing them off as their own, a great way to discourage this is by adding a unique identifier. This could come in the form of a logo, a watermark, or even your own face.

If you opt for a logo or watermark, you'll probably want to include this design element in one of the four corners of the video screen. Alternatively, you could add it as a banner at the bottom.

This way, you can claim your original content without disrupting the viewing experience. Although this won't stop people outright, it can make stealing your content more challenging.

Furthermore, you're probably familiar with the floating head in the corner of a video. This is especially common in educational videos:

Along with making your content harder to steal, this can be a great way to keep viewers (and especially students) engaged if you're walking them through a tutorial that requires the full screen.

If your site offers courses or your brand is based largely around your personal image, you may want to try this technique. It can be a great way to claim authorship and simultaneously strengthen your personal brand.

4. Encrypt Your Videos

Encryption is another great way to protect your videos with WordPress. This type of security technology can prevent even the most extreme types of content theft, such as screen recording.

There are many tools that can provide this service, such as CopySafe Video Protection:

Using this tool, you can easily encrypt all your videos to prevent unauthorized distribution.

Unfortunately, most encyption tools (including CopySafe) aren't free. So you may want to take some time in your research, to find the option that best suits your needs and budget.

5. Copyright Your Video Content

Up until now, we've provided some straightforward ways you can protect video content with WordPress. However, if you expect your business to scale quickly, it may be worth going the extra mile.

In other words, you may want to copyright your video content. When you copyright your material, you legally claim your intellectual property, thereby protecting your business.

A copyright gives the owner of the content the following rights:

• Reproduce copies of the work
• Prepare “derivative” works based on it
• Distribute copies of the work
• Perform the work publicly
• Display the work publicly

Plus, you can get a copyright in just a few steps.

Of course, it's important to keep in mind that a copyright can't stop content thieves outright. But it does give you the ability to press charges against them if you do catch them stealing your content.

Conclusion

Whether you run an educational website with online courses, or a community page offering virtual workshops, your video content may be the focal point of your business. That’s why protecting video material may be crucial to ensure the success of your company.

Fortunately, you can set a strong foundation for your video site when you use a membership plugin like MemberMouse. Additionally, you might consider using a premium video hosting service such as Vimeo Plus or Wistia. As a final level of security, you can strengthen user login security and add a watermark to your videos.

How do you plan to protect your video content with WordPress? Let us know in the comments section below!

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