How to protect your creation from theft?

Don't save.

1. No one will steal your creation (text, graphics, music, thought...) anyway. Your work is not so good that it is worth stealing.
2. Am I wrong? Is your work good and worthy of attention? You can be happy that you got the proof - you really created something that inspires, catches the eye, and is memorable. Because if you create something bad, you won't get attention from thieves.
3. …And don't protect your creation anyway, because why protect it if your fans will? If your work is good, your fans will recognize it. And the fans will defend you, poking the thief "Why did you steal this?". It is likely to warn you too. A thief will not get through if you have people who remember your work.
4. A thief will not always become successful from creative theft. Stealing car parts is better than artwork, because crafting requires skill. A thief steals production, but not your skills. By the time someone steals, you're already five steps ahead.
5. It pays more to spend 10 hours on advertising than the same number of hours on catching thieves. The more people know about your work, the more they will buy it, remember it, and protect you from thieves. You can introduce yourself to hundreds or thousands of people a day (the Internet is a miracle!) OR fend off one thief. One of these choices will give you more profit, fame, honor or whatever you desire.
6. ...And if your ideas are really unique - few people have them - thank the thieves. It is easy to promote something that is already "on the wave". It is difficult to promote something that only the author and a few of his followers understand. A thief who distributes your ideas for free prepares a general audience for your seeds.

It is not worth protecting your creation. Especially if you are a budding artist. You better cry, cry, cry.

(Well, if you're an experienced artist with 100k fans, correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm not at that level yet. I'm just average.)