Delphi/Lazarus: Prevent user from using CTRL+C in Memo or Edit Field

Sometimes you do not want that a user is able to copy texts from a TMemo or TEdit control to the clipboard. That is, if the user selects the text from an Edit field or some lines from a Memo and then presses CTRL and C on his keyboard, the text should not be copied to the clipboard.

With the following code in the OnKeyUp event of the Memo or the Edit, we can just do that:

uses ClipBrd;
 
procedure Edit1KeyUp(Sender: TObject; var Key: Word; Shift: TShiftState);
begin    
  if (ssCtrl in Shift) and (Key = ord('C')) then begin
    Clipboard.AsText:=''; 
    // or Clipboard.AsText:='DO NOT COPY FROM US!';  
  end;
end;

The principle is as follows: First, we check which keys were pressed. If that is CTRL (Shift) and C (Key) at the same time, we set the clipboard content to an empty string. Thus, it is not possible for the user to copy a content to the clipboard.

Of course, instead of an empty string, we can also copy any other alternative text to the clipboard as the uncommented line shows.