Here's a quick one for you.
Not to say that anyone of us would know about this, except in a purely academical, professional way, but there are a number of Google searches which will return intellectual property, such as music, movies, and books, for "free".
Results like these can be removed by the publisher by sending DMCA request to Google. But this is laborsome and requires constant monitoring and attention.
A more effective strategy, and one that will work as a double edged sword, is to "poison" the search results.
Create and send out or make available for download free samples of your e-book, new album, or movie. Make sure to keep the filename as close to the premium one as possible. Think with the searcher in mind.
The end result is, as I said, a double edged sword.
One, when somebody searches with the goal of stealing your material, they are faced with page after page of unusable results.
Two, you can use the free material as promotion, obviously. Especially if you were to send out some of the free samples weeks or months before they are made available to the general public.
Of course some will argue that the real solution is to switch to another distribution model, another business model. I think that for many of us this is an unrealistic solution. Also, I still believe in a cost -- time -- value exchange. In either case that decision is one to be made by the artist, not by you or me.
Image courtesy of: Nufkin
About the Author: Ruud Hein
