Hotlink protection are used to prevent other sites from using and linking to your images. One of the coolest .htaccess file hacks, this one sends content scrapers running with their tail between their legs.
When someone uses your site’s image, your bandwidth is being consumed and most of the time, you’re not even credited for it. This code snippet eliminates that problem and sends this image when a hotlink is detected.
# Prevent image hotlinking script. Replace last URL with any image link you want.
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http(s)?://(www\.)?yourwebsite.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http(s)?://(www\.)?yourotherwebsite.com [NC]
RewriteRule \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$ https://i.imgur.com/MlQAH71.jpg [NC,R,L]