Concerned about fake versions of its publications being circulated around the world, the Project Management Institute® has implemented a service to prevent copying of its PMBOK® Guide and other textbooks and study guides. PMI will be working with Document Security Systems to implement technologies that ensure the authenticity of its physical materials.

Without mentioning that it incurs financial loss when revenue from the sales go to counterfeiters instead of the project management organization, PMI said the faked materials have poor quality and content that may be outdated and incomplete.

According to a description on the DSS website, its program Pantograph 4000 embeds hidden “warning words” (such as “VOID”) or images into the background tint of the document being protected. These are exposed when pages are scanned or copied. The technology also distorts or obscures the product’s original art, such as logos, text and barcodes.

“We need to protect our customers and ensure they are purchasing a genuine version of the publication. At the same time, we don’t want to affect the readability of the original text,” said Donn Greenberg, PMI’s publisher, in a prepared statement. “We want to make sure customers have accurate information and not the counterfeit copies which are often sold online and easily mistaken as authentic. By making it more difficult to counterfeit, we help keep the fake versions out of the hands of customers. I believe that we will see an immediate and impactful reduction in counterfeits from the use of the DSS technology.”