What to Do When Someone Steals Your LinkedIn Content

26 April 2025

Protecting Your LinkedIn Content: My Journey for World Intellectual Property Day

I am writing this from personal experience. Having had my own content lifted and used without permission, including material from a private email sequence, I know how violating it feels and how important it is to know exactly what to do when it happens.

Content theft on LinkedIn is far more common than most people realise, and it is a particular risk for senior leaders and executives whose thought leadership, frameworks, and proprietary content represent real professional and commercial value. When your ideas are your currency, having them taken without credit or permission is not just frustrating. It is a genuine intellectual property issue with legal remedies available to you.

Here is what you need to know, and what to do if it happens to you.

Your content is protected from the moment you create it

In the UK, copyright protection applies automatically from the moment original work is created. You do not need to register it, file anything, or add a copyright notice, although adding one is good practice. This applies to LinkedIn posts, articles, newsletters, email sequences, frameworks, and any other original content you produce.

That means if someone lifts your content, word for word or close to it, without your permission, they are infringing your copyright. You have rights, and those rights are enforceable.

How to protect your content before it happens

Keep records of everything you publish.

Timestamps, screenshots, draft versions, publication dates. If a dispute arises, being able to demonstrate clearly that your content existed before someone else's version is essential. Make this a habit rather than a reactive measure.

Set up Google Alerts for your distinctive phrases.

If you have signature lines, branded frameworks, or distinctive language that appears consistently in your content, set up Google Alerts for those phrases. This is one of the quickest ways to catch unauthorised use of your material online before it becomes entrenched.

Use plagiarism detection tools regularly.

Tools such as Copyscape and Grammarly Premium can scan for copies of your posts and articles across the web. For senior leaders producing regular thought leadership, running periodic checks is a sensible precaution rather than an excessive one.

Search LinkedIn for your own language periodically.

Using distinctive keywords or phrases from your most original content in LinkedIn's search bar can surface near-duplicates posted by others. It takes five minutes and can catch infringement that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Use email tracking if you share content through sequences.

If you distribute proprietary content through email nurture sequences, tracking data can provide valuable evidence of who accessed your material and when. This can be particularly useful if content from a private sequence appears elsewhere without your permission.

Some of the stolen copy from my sales funnel sequence 👆

What to do when you discover your content has been stolen

Document everything immediately.

Before you do anything else, gather your evidence. Screenshots of the copied material with timestamps, records of your original publication dates, and any other documentation that establishes the timeline. Do this before reaching out, in case the infringing content is removed or edited.

Make initial contact professionally and factually.

A clear, calm message stating that you have identified the use of your copyrighted material and requesting its removal is often enough to resolve the situation. Keep the focus on the facts of the copyright issue rather than the emotional impact. This protects you legally and professionally regardless of how the other party responds.

Report to LinkedIn directly.

LinkedIn has a formal intellectual property complaints process. Submitting a report through this channel creates an official record of the infringement and can result in the content being removed by the platform even if the individual refuses to act.

Seek professional advice when the situation warrants it.

If the infringement is significant, if it involves paid content, proprietary frameworks, or material central to your professional reputation, consult a solicitor or intellectual property specialist. A formal cease and desist letter can resolve situations without court action and demonstrates that you are serious about protecting your work.

I know a great IP Solicitor - get in touch for details!

Lean on your professional community.

From my own experience, the support of a professional network when dealing with content theft is invaluable. Fellow leaders who have navigated similar situations can offer practical advice, solidarity, and connections to the right specialists. You do not have to handle it alone.

Why this matters more at senior level

For senior leaders, thought leadership is not just content. It is reputation. It is the distillation of decades of expertise, judgment, and experience into language that signals authority and attracts the right opportunities. When that material is taken and used by someone else, it is not a minor inconvenience. It is a direct threat to the professional positioning you have worked hard to build.

Knowing your rights, protecting your work proactively, and responding firmly and professionally when those rights are infringed is not an overreaction. It is exactly the kind of strategic self-advocacy that defines strong leadership.

A final thought

Your ideas, your frameworks, your voice, your story. These are yours. They are protected by law from the moment you create them. In a professional environment where thought leadership is currency, knowing how to protect that currency is not optional. It is part of owning your expertise at the level you have already reached.

Laura Taylor is an executive LinkedIn strategist and ghostwriter working with senior women and C-suite leaders on visibility, reputation and authority. Based in Liverpool, working globally. ©️