The art market is worth an impressive $512 billion, and more people than ever are investing in art-either by collecting or investing in art for resale. But the market for art and artists has a dark side that is brutal to artists and their artwork. Art thieves excel at copying rare, valuable, and iconic works so much that they can often fool even seasoned experts.
Theft would not be restricted to just digital art. As a developing trend, many art thieves may have also exchanged paintings and portraits with exact replicas to sell off the original in black markets. So, to protect your own art investments, here are a few things you can do:

Copyright infringement is a serious problem, but there are some solutions. Here are the things that you should need to protect your designs from art thieves.

Install security measures for studios

Much like digital art, authentic paintings may also be faced with a high risk of theft. As robberies committed discreetly could take place by interfering with CCTV footage, and at times security systems, putting in place countermeasures could prevent such mishaps.

To begin with, there should be restrictions when it comes to access points. Many robbers gain access to valuables by creating preload in locks, which can be prevented by setting up anti-tampering measures and using quality components. Next, it may be a practical decision to set up motion sensors. While thieves move in a clandestine way, their movements can be detected through motion sensors, which can set off a loud alarm, signalling security personnel so that they can intercept them discreetly.

Installing number-locked Herculite Glass Doors, attached frames, shatter-proof glass boxes, and other units with an alarm system is also a great addition. In doing so, it could delay the process of robbery while the authorities are notified.

You can start with low-resolution images.

Digital artists and even art sellers should use low-resolution images when displaying work on their sites. Low-resolution images are easy and quick to load, and the quality of the image is not completely destroyed. However, thieves will not be able to use your images to make quality prints or merch as low-resolution images will be printed poorly. Forgers will find it hard to copy the exact details of your painted works if they cannot see them clearly, making it harder for them.

Keep your images small.

When it comes to protecting works of digital art, size really matters. Prints, mugs, t-shirts, stickers, and other merch your art can be put on is an industry that is worth a lot of money. Thieves are always looking for easy targets to make a quick buck off. When printing images, the size of the image matters greatly. If thieves can only get small copies of your works, they can only put them on tiny mugs.

Use portions of images.

Yet another tactic to prevent digital thieves from using your works in merch, and forgers from making an exact copy of your work. If you only display a small preview of your work, the thieves will have much less to work with.

Add copyright notice.

To protect your work from infringement, you should register the copyright with the US Copyright Office. This can prevent others from using your designs without your permission, and it can give you the means to collect compensation if other people infringe on your rights. Thieves can also be deterred if they know they could face legal recourse.

Some thieves may try to differentiate their stolen material from yours, however you can use a copyright case to argue certain elements of your artwork have too much resemblance to the fake work. Just another reason to make sure your work is copyrighted.

Use a watermark.

Watermarking is the process of embedding a transparent image or text into your artwork that deters someone from copying the image and using it commercially without permission. Many stock image sites use this technique so that clients can see high quality images but cannot use them – due to the sheer amount of watermarks that will only go away when the image is purchased.

If you wish to make physical copies of your artwork, you could consider getting a watermark printed on them to protect them from getting stolen. There are many printing agencies that could do this for you in a cost-effective way. For example, people situated in UK could search ‘london printers cheap‘ or something along those lines to find services that offer watermarked prints.

Some thieves have tools that can remove watermarks, however this can be a long and slow process for them. However, watermarks can be the baulking point for many thieves out there.

The rising popularity of online platforms for sharing digital and traditional artwork has given rise to an increase in theft and forgery that is estimated to cost artists millions of dollars each year. Unfortunately, stolen designs can also get a lot of attention. This can create a problem for established designers, who are responsible for protecting their work. Therefore, they might need to uncover novel methods for preventing digital art theft. As an example, it would be practical to use high-end cyber security solutions for computers as well as mobile phones (e.g. Pradeo’s mobile threat defense system) to prevent successful hacking attempts. In a similar way, artists can follow other effective practices to protect their artworks.

If you don’t want your art to fall into the wrong hands, then you might need to use one of the discussed methods to protect your art. While there can be workarounds to some of these methods, it will give thieves a harder time to copy your artwork and make a profit off it.