Most WordPress users online who search for Theme Designs for their Blog/s don't want to have annoying links within the footer of their chosen Theme or Template.
Most template users, especially the people who are familiar to HTML Programming, usually edit the footer.
php and replace or remove the original links placed by the Author of that Template or Theme.
To stop someone from claiming YOUR work as their own, certain measures must be applied.
One of the best method is to encrypt the footer links to avoid someone from manipulating your Theme.
Encrypting the Footer links have many advantages in favor of the Creator of the Template.
It ensures the credit link is intact, thus, increasing the Link Popularity and gain some Backlinks from the Users of the Theme.
Learn the Basics of Encrypting Footer Links Their are many ways to protect your Footer Links and remain intact.
One of the easiest way is to use a base64 Decoder and Encoder.
This is my personal favorite strategy to get rid out of newbies who try to change our credit links to one of our WordPress Template Design.
More often this method is easy to decode but sufficient enough to annoy someone who does not know programing languages.
You can use these Free Encoder tools: Just search online for the terms "Base64 Encoder by Motobit" or "PHP Encoder by ByteRuns" If you are serious to Protect and License your PHP scripts and Website, use IonCube PHP Encoder.
Search for IonCube PHP Encoder and try their Demo Software.