Disclaimer: This post and it's contents are prohibited to be replicated to the community known as r/gonewildaiaudio. I forbid the user u/stocks_girl from posting the info contained here as well. I forbid my colab watermarking tool to be used for AI generated audios. These rules will be enforced by DMCA claims if not complied.

The honest truth first…

You cannot make your audio impossible to steal. If a person can hear it, a determined thief can eventually copy it. Anyone who promises you "uncopyable" is lying.

So this guide is not about building a magic wall. It's about three realistic goals:

1. Make yourself a hard target  so lazy thieves and automatic bots move on to easier prey.
2. Hide your signature in everything so even if something gets stolen, you can prove it's yours.
3. Get stolen stuff taken down without ever putting your real name in a stranger's hands.

Think of it like a house. You can't make a house un-burglarable. But locks, cameras, and an alarm sign make burglars pick the other house. That's the whole game here.

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Part 1: Small things you can do in your reddit post!

These are quick tricks for the text part of your post (title and description). 

Add a copyright line (10 seconds, do it always)

Drop a line like this into every description:

© [your alias] — Do not repost. Not licensed for AI training.

It won't physically stop anyone, but it removes the "I didn't know it was protected" excuse and makes your later takedowns stronger.

Add a hidden "tripwire" phrase (free, easy, very useful)

Write one weird, very specific sentence nobody else would ever write, and bury it in your description. Later, you can search Google for that exact sentence (in quotes) and instantly find every site that copied you. 

Example:

I edited an old post of mine and added the phrase: "I gave my pet crocodile headphones, but lithium is made of seagulls"

Theoretically, once google indexes the change, if you search:

"I gave my pet crocodile headphones, but lithium is made of seagulls"

You will have a result that takes you to my post! Or someone that stole your description without reading closely, in this case. Although it hasn't worked for me yet, I know that it does work, it can just take a while!

Upgrade the tripwire with Canarytokens

A canary token is a special hidden link that emails you the moment a thief loads it.

1. Go to canarytokens.org
2. Pick a token type (a "Web bug / URL" token is simplest), enter your email.
3. It gives you a unique link. Hide it in your post or on a page you control.
4. When a scraper grabs your stuff and that link gets loaded, you get an alert.

PS: This can lead to thousands of false reports, so if you really want to use it, create an email just for that!

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Part 2: Protecting the AUDIO itself

The text is easy to strip away. The sound file is where your real protection lives. 

1. Watermark every file

A watermark stamps an invisible signature into the actual sound. You can't hear it, but a checker can read it back later,  so if your file turns up on a pirate site, you can prove it's yours. The free tool is AudioSeal (made by Meta).

The simplest way (built for zero coding experience):

1. Open my free, simplified tool: https://colab.research.google.com/github/scriptweaver1/audioseal/blob/main/AudioSeal_OneClick.ipynb (Colab is a free Google page that runs code for you. This version is built so you never have to look at any code, just click buttons.)
2. Click Runtime → Run all at the top.
3. When it asks, upload your audio file.
4. Before the watermarking step runs, you’ll see two simple settings:

• Watermark strength (a slider): how strong the invisible signal is. Lower (around 0.3–0.4) is quieter and safer for your ears; higher is tougher to strip but can add a faint hum on quiet recordings. If you ever hear a hum in your result, lower this and run it again.
• Keep original file format? (a checkbox): leave this checked and you get back the same file type you uploaded (mp3 stays mp3, m4a stays m4a). Only uncheck it if you specifically want an uncompressed .wav instead.

1. It downloads the finished file automatically, post that version, and jot down the ID code it prints (useful later if you ever need to prove a file is yours).

For the tech-savvy (the original, official tool):

If you’d rather see the raw code cells and don’t mind a bit more manual fiddling, Meta’s original notebook works the same way, just less hand-held:

1. Open AudioSeal’s free Colab notebook: https://colab.research.google.com/github/facebookresearch/audioseal/blob/master/examples/colab.ipynb
2. Upload your audio file when it asks.
3. Run the cells. It adds the watermark.
4. Download the watermarked file and post that version.

Useful links:

• Tool + instructions: https://github.com/facebookresearch/audioseal
• The models: https://huggingface.co/facebook/audioseal
• If you’re comfortable with a command line, the whole install is just: pip install audioseal

Tips: keep your original file safe, and jot down which ID code goes with which post. My one-click tool preserves your full audio quality automatically, so you don’t need to worry about downgrading your file. Just don’t crank the strength slider all the way up unless you’ve tested that it still sounds clean to you!

2. Say it out loud too (a "spoken" watermark)

You don’t need any tool for this one, it’s just editing. Add a short spoken line at the start or end of the recording: something like "This was made by [your alias]. Not licensed for AI training. Do not redistribute." It can’t create a hum or hurt your audio quality at all, since it’s just you, on mic.

It’s unambiguous proof of ownership and non-consent, much harder for a thief to claim "I didn’t know" when your own voice says so. And it survives any re-encoding or platform re-upload, since it’s regular audio content, not a hidden signal that clever processing can wash out.

But anyone with basic editing skills can cut it out in a few seconds. Trim the last 10 seconds, done. It also won’t survive someone reposting just a short clip from the middle of your file.

Best move: do both. The spoken line stops casual reposting cold and gives you a strong, obvious takedown case. The invisible watermark is your backup, the thing that’s still there if someone actually bothers to cut the spoken part out.

3. "Poison" against voice-cloning AI (optional, advanced)

If your fear is someone cloning your voice with AI, there are tools that add a special "static" that sounds normal to human ears but scrambles the file so AI can't learn your voice properly. A newer, more capable free one is SafeSpeech (from a 2025 research team): https://github.com/wxzyd123/SafeSpeech

It's more up-to-date than older tools like AntiFake, runs on modern software, is still actively maintained, and is built to resist a wider range of cloning methods, including ones that try to "learn" your voice by training on your clips.

Be honest with yourself about this one: it's much more involved to set up than most tools, not less. It expects a fairly powerful data-center-grade graphics card (Needs 80 VRAM to run) , needs you to feed it a written transcript of each clip, and downloads several large AI models before it'll run. It has never been tested for erotic audios, so there is little data on what sections of moans and gasps might do to the model's calculations.

Realistically this is a "hand it to a techie friend" tool, or one to run through a shared setup someone in the community maintains, not something most people will install themselves.

I’m currently attempting to make this process not as difficult for the average person, and IF I can make good results, I’ll share that project here too.

But like all tools in this category, it's only a speed bump: determined people can partly undo it, but it is better than nothing. Treat it as an extra layer to slow down anyone that attempts training models using your voice. In the meantime,  keep watermarking your files regardless, since that's the cheaper, sturdier protection that actually helps you prove ownership later.

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Part 3:  WHERE you host (this is the important one!)

No host is a true vault.

But hosts differ hugely in how much friction they add. Friction stops the lazy thieves and the automatic scraper bots, and that's the vast majority of theft. 

You should avoid raw-file hosts!  Example: Soundgasm. The file sits at a plain link. One click,  (or one bot) and it is stolen instantly. There are even ready-made tools that bulk-download from it. Simplest and most popular, but basically a free buffet for scrapers. Avoid if theft is your worry.

Try using scrambler hosts! Example: HotAudio. Instead of handing over a plain file, these stream the audio in scrambled chunks, so right-click-save and most automatic bots come away with nothing usable. This stops the casual 95%. HotAudio is built specifically around this browser-scrambling protection; Erocast/Erocaster stream rather than serving raw files, which is already a big step up from Soundgasm.

PS: Wherever you decide to transfer your audios to, remember to update the links on your reddit posts!

PSS: Remember to delete the audios from the older platform as well!

PSSS: A important addendum to this section that deserved it's own post!

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Part 4: Other ways to slow the bots down

( ADVANCED, you will need your own website)

Most of this section is a big step harder than everything above, because it only works if you run your own website or page. If you post through Reddit + a host like Soundgasm or HotAudio, you don't control the server, so you simply can't do most of these 

Split where the audio lives from where you advertise it 

A lot of scrapers just crawl Reddit/listing pages and auto-grab whatever audio link is attached. If your Reddit post doesn't contain a direct file link and instead it points to your page, which then links to the host, you break the one-step automated grab. Every extra hop sheds a chunk of the lazy bots. 

But: this only works if you have your own page to point to in the first place.

Lock down your own page, if you have one.

If you host something yourself (a landing page, a personal site, eventually your own platform), this is where you get real anti-bot power you simply don't have on Reddit or Soundgasm. The catch is you have to be running the site, and setting these up takes some technical comfort (or a techie friend):

• Cloudflare's free "block AI bots" toggle. One switch, free tier. As of 2025, Cloudflare blocks known AI scrapers by default and lets you turn it on for any site it sits in front of,  it stops a large share of the named training crawlers cold. (You'd need to put your site behind Cloudflare first, which is itself a setup step.)
• A robots.txt file + noai / noindex tags. This is a polite "do not scrape / do not train" sign you place on your own site. Well-behaved crawlers obey it; badly-behaved ones ignore it, but it strengthens your legal position later, because they can't claim they didn't know.
• Bot challenges:  A Cloudflare "are you human?" check, or a simple rate limit that lets real listeners through while filtering out automated hammering.
• Tarpits: Feed crawlers endless junk pages on your server.

 

Watermark your cover image too 

Scrapers often grab the whole post, image included. Add a visible "© [alias] — not for AI training" in a corner (any image editor does this in seconds), and if you want to go further an invisible image watermark that survives screenshots and re-compression. The image is frequently what gets reposted first, so it's worth the same treatment as your audio, just a different file.

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Part 5: WHO do you actually send a complaint to? (works for ANY host)

The list of people who can actually do something is short, and it's the same no matter where a site is hosted:

1. Google — to remove it from search results
2. The company that hosts it — where the files physically live (this is the one that can actually delete them)
3. Sometimes a "shield" company sits in front of the host (more below)
4. The registrar — the company that sold them their web address
5. The website itself — the pirate
6. Their ad / payment company — if they make money from ads or subscriptions

You don't need to find all of these. The two that matter most are Google (kills their traffic) and the real host (can delete the files). Here's how, in a safe order:

Step 1: Always start with Google search removal (works for any site)

Form: https://reportcontent.google.com/forms/dmca_search (or search "Google copyright removal request") The file stays on the pirate's site, but it vanishes from Google search and the pirate isn't even handed your complaint. Since these sites live off search traffic, this quietly cripples them. Bonus: Google also pulls ads off pages it gets valid notices for, and can bury the whole site if it racks up several. Works from anywhere in the world.

Step 2: Look up who hosts the site

Go to who.is (or any "who is hosting this" tool) and type the pirate's web address. It names the hosting company and the registrar.

Step 3: Did the lookup show a "shield" company instead of a real host?

Some sites hide behind a security/proxy company. Cloudflare is the most common, but there are others (Sucuri, DDoS-Guard, etc.). If the lookup shows one of these instead of a normal host, you can't reach the real host directly, so report to the shield's abuse page, and they pass your complaint to the real host (and often tell you who it is).

• Cloudflare's form, as the common example: https://abuse.cloudflare.com/dmca → pick "Copyright / DMCA."
• These forwards share your name and contact with the pirate, so file under your service or business name (see Part 6), not your real name.
• If the lookup shows a normal host (no shield), skip straight to Step 4.

Step 4: Report to the real host (the one that can delete it)

Whoever the host turns out to be, find their takedown page by searching "[host name] DMCA" or "[host name] abuse report." Send the same notice. The host is the party that can actually remove the files.

Step 5: The registrar (backup)

From who.is, search "[registrar name] abuse" and send the notice there too. Another pressure point, especially for blatant repeat offenders.

Step 6: Their ad / payment company

If the site clearly runs ads or sells subscriptions, report the theft to that company to cut off the money.

What every complaint needs (it's always the same basic info)

• A link to your original work
• A link to the stolen copy
• A sentence saying you own it and didn't authorize this use
• Your signature (typing your full name counts) and contact info

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Part 6: Doing all this WITHOUT revealing your real name

The scary part: a takedown normally needs accountable contact info, and some pirate sites are known for doxxing (exposing your real identity). Good news: the rule does not require you personally to be the name on it. Put a buffer between you and the complaint:

• If you have your own a small business for audio content: Use that as your identification!
• Make a small business (an LLC or local equivalent) own your work. Then the business files, with a business address.
• Use a takedown service. They file in their name, on your behalf. Their info appears, not yours. Easiest shield, and the whole reason these services exist. Exemples: DMCA21 - Free ; BranditScan - Paid; Rulta - Paid; 
• Use a lawyer. Strongest, but priciest.

Avoid just signing a fake name by itself that can get your notice rejected and isn't a safe shield. The point is that someone is genuinely accountable, just not you, by name.

Two more privacy notes:

• Lead with Google search removal:  it's the lowest-exposure step, since the pirate never receives your complaint. 
• Anything that reaches the operator (a shield company, the host, or a direct message) should go through your service/business name.

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Conclusion

Keeping you own content safe can be a lot of work if you want to do EVERYTHING in this post, but realisticaly, no one is. It's too many things, too many security measures that may or may not work. If you want to make easy changes that will help you, but not take over your life, I recommend doing Part 3 at the very least!

After that, verbal and subtle watermarking. If you have the option to do it safely, DMCA take down notices work wonders, as I've seen offending sites taken down after a wave in less than 24 hours.

All the rest is to be done only if you still keep losing your work! Keep safe out there my friends, and good luck on your safety journey! If anyone has any questions, my DM's, or the comments on the post are open!

Troubleshooting:

Issue 1: The checking tool says it was not watermarked!

The test that checks if a file has been watermarked or not is harsh, and wants a clear signal to say it has been watermarked. The problem is that this clear signal can introduce a faint humming noise when everything is quiet. What that means is that if you pick a lower setting on the slider, the test might say the watermark was not applied. That is not true, the watermark will be there, it will just be harder to find!

It is a matter of weighting what matter most to you: The watermarking or the audio quality.

Issue 2: The program failed!
The most common I had while using it was a RAM memory issue. But It's an easy fix!

• On the colab page, click on connect.
• After it's done, there is a little down arrow next to the connect button. Click on it.
• Choose the "Change the runtime environment type"
• A menu will open, select GPU: T4, then accept.
• After that, just execute everything and it should work!

That will make it run on google's hardware, and it should have no more memory issues after that! If it still fails, please DM me so we can find out together what is going wrong!

Issue 3: My file never downloads!:

That is probably happening because you have pop-ups disabled. If that is the case, there is an easy fix! The safest fix is to grab the file manually instead of waiting on the auto-download:

• Click the 📁 folder icon on the left sidebar (the file browser).
• The finished file should be sitting there in the file list.
• Click the ⋮ (three dots) next to it → Download. This pulls it straight from the runtime and bypasses the stuck files.download() call entirely.