Amazon Ebook Copyright Complaints & How To Fight Stolen Ebooks

[Jappio]

I had this happen at scribed.

I wrote them and they took it down right away. I may have had to fill out a form, but it was something they had available and I just had to fill it out. It was a while ago, so I don't remember the exact details. I just looked about on their site until I found someone to write. Once I got a hold of someone, it was easy to get the process started and it happened quickly.

I signed the takedown form with my real name (I didn't know any better) and they posted a note that the story had been taken down by (and then the listed my real name).

I wrote them and asked them to remove my real name and insert Huck Pilgrim and they did it pretty quickly. I think to prove I was Huck Pilgrim, I just sent them email from my Huck Pilgrim account, pointed to the same book on my blog and at Amazon, and acted all indignant, lol.

Just write them to get the process started. Use your pen name to communicate with them, I think is best. They don't really care who you are, they just pull the shit down if you seem legit.

I have written them, and they insist they need things like name and address. I'm wondering if using a fake name will end up working then... though I worry about the legal issues that could come with that.

Either way, I have asked them how private the matter can be kept. Seeing where that takes me.

 

[HuckPilgrim]

Good luck!

 

[Mushrom]

Thanks for this.

I just today found out that one of my stories was stolen and sold on Amazon Kindle by somebody else. Amazon has already removed the story, but now I am starting to search for other stories.

I suggest that anybody that has written exceptionally long stories to occasionally pick a random line and do a Google search for it. I literally picked a line at random from the first chapter and found somebody had lifted my story completely, sold it on Amazon US and UK, and even created a Goodreads page about himself.

 

[medusathesedusa]

Thank you for the notice

Thank you so much for putting this up, it is pathetic that there are people out there to want to steal others work and claim it as their own.

Recently, several Lit authors have contacted us with concerns about nefarious "publishers" at Amazon.com. These "publishers" steal writing/photos from around the web and publish it on Amazon.com in ebook form. Their goal is simple - to exploit the hard work of others for their own financial gain.

A quick Google search shows that this has been an issue for as long as Amazon has allowed independent ebook publishing. In many cases, it appears that the stolen ebooks are actually purchased from Amazon, and then repackaged for sale back on Amazon by the thief.

This is not a problem exclusive to adult authors. In fact, most of the blog posts and articles that we found about this issue involve stolen mainstream articles and ebooks. It's likely that the thieves don't care at all what kind of content they are stealing. They just want to make money as easily as possible.

Like Amazon, we have had people submit stolen stories to Literotica several times over the years. Our policy on copyright is very clear, and we respond to all copyright complaints. Any author found to be copying/stealing stories will have all of their stories removed from Literotica and their account banned.

Amazon also claims to have a strict copyright policy, but they are quite a bit harder to deal with than Literotica. From the research that we've been doing, it looks like Amazon has a system of "copyright strikes". Amazon keeps a record of how many DMCA complains each author/publisher account has received. If an account reaches a certain number of DMCA complaints (strikes), the account will be banned and the author/publisher will not be paid for any unpaid earnings.

In addition, any Amazon accounts (past, present, and future) associated with that banned account will be banned as well. Once banned, it becomes increasingly difficult for that thief to sign up for new Amazon accounts.

If you want to have stolen ebooks removed from the Amazon.com marketplace, the simple way to do it is to file multiple DMCA complaints. This creates multiple copyright strikes against the offending account. Any Amazon author/publisher who gets a certain number of DMCA complaints (not sure the exact number) will be banned from Amazon. The more times a thief gets banned, the harder it becomes to continue making money on stolen ebooks.

DMCA complaints are the only type of action that counts as a copyright strike. Amazon does not apply strikes based on random customer complaints, comment board complaints, etc. DMCA is the only type of complaint that Amazon recognizes.

It is very important that authors file DMCA notices against any stolen eBook that they find in the Amazon.com market. If you recognize ebooks by your friends or other authors, notify them and ask them to file a DMCA complaint.

Amazon's DMCA/Copyright Agent information is as follows:

Amazon.com Legal Department
P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226

Phone: (206) 266-4064
Fax: (206) 266-7010
E-mail: copyright@amazon.com

https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/help?topicID=200626000

If you need help filing a DMCA notice, it's very simple and there are many websites offering free DMCA templates:
http://support.scribd.com/entries/2...ingement-takedown-notification-email-template
https://kdp.amazon.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=379199
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/07/06/sample-dmca-take-down-letter/id=4501/

http://sarafhawkins.com/how-to-file-a-dmca-takedown-notice/
http://www.epicorg.com/sample-dmca-take-down-notice.html

Though this post relates directly to Amazon, a DMCA notice can be used to have writing/photos/video removed from any website which is publishing your work without your permission. DMCA notices are a simple yet powerful tool that every author should be aware of.

In the future, we plan to add a special section to Literotica.com to help better inform authors about copyright issues and DMCA. If you have any suggestions for information or tools you would like to see, please let us know.

Thank you to everyone who has contacted us about these issues and we'll continue - as we always have - working with Lit authors to fight against anyone who tries to infringe on your work!

 

[Pelaam]

Copyright infringements

Has anyone experience in dealing with Livejournal? Someone likes my stuff so much it keeps appearing on there under different names. I've contacted them and told them it's been plagiarised but I'm expected to jump through hoops to get it taken down.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Has anyone experience in dealing with Livejournal? Someone likes my stuff so much it keeps appearing on there under different names. I've contacted them and told them it's been plagiarised but I'm expected to jump through hoops to get it taken down.

Just send them the DMCA take down notice.

 

[sr71plt]

Has anyone experience in dealing with Livejournal? Someone likes my stuff so much it keeps appearing on there under different names. I've contacted them and told them it's been plagiarised but I'm expected to jump through hoops to get it taken down.

1. This was posted to the wrong area of the forum. Should be addressed in main section of Authors Hangout. This is for book announcements.

2. Yes, you should have to go through hoops to prove it's yours. Anyone could claim it's theirs without proof, including you. You know you wrote it, but no one else has a reason to know that without proof of some sort.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

1. This was posted to the wrong forum. Should be addressed in Authors Hangout. This is for book announcements.

2. Yes, you should have to go through hoops to prove it's yours. Anyone could claim it's theirs without proof, including you. You know you wrote it, but no one else has a reason to know that without proof of some sort.

1. Uh? You may want to check the title of the sticky it is in.

2. You betcha.

 

[cfnmchap]

Just wanted to say thanks to all for sharing their experiences/knowledge on Amazon. I have published a non-erotic book on Amazon so am certainly concerned that it might be stolen and resold.

Considering Amazon are meant to check for plagiarism (if I recollect correctly) when books are loaded I am surprised they are not flagging this issue already.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Just wanted to say thanks to all for sharing their experiences/knowledge on Amazon. I have published a non-erotic book on Amazon so am certainly concerned that it might be stolen and resold.

Considering Amazon are meant to check for plagiarism (if I recollect correctly) when books are loaded I am surprised they are not flagging this issue already.

Yeah, they check for exact title and text...change either and they ignore it.

 

[SweetestThing]

Hey Everyone.

I'm SweetestThing, I've written a bunch of stories over the years here at Lit and this morning someone alerted me to the fact that someone on Amazon has stolen my story "A Proper Send-Off" and is selling it as their own. This is her "author" page. She's got a ton of stories there, mainly lesbian, gay and incest based, so you might want to take a look.

http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Patterson/e/B00SJ5NM76/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

She retitled "A Proper Send-Off" both times she tried selling it. First as "My June, My Crush" and then as "Loving June"(both of which, I mean, c'mon try at least).

 

[HuckPilgrim]

Hey Everyone.

I'm SweetestThing, I've written a bunch of stories over the years here at Lit and this morning someone alerted me to the fact that someone on Amazon has stolen my story "A Proper Send-Off" and is selling it as their own. This is her "author" page. She's got a ton of stories there, mainly lesbian, gay and incest based, so you might want to take a look.

http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Patterson/e/B00SJ5NM76/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

She retitled "A Proper Send-Off" both times she tried selling it. First as "My June, My Crush" and then as "Loving June"(both of which, I mean, c'mon try at least).

You should report it. I gave it 1 star review that links to your story on here. Not sure if that's the best way to go about this, but it's done now.

Good luck.

 

[Lisa Summers]

Cheaters never prosper, but sometimes authors do ok

Sometimes these plagiarists lead authors to publish e-books. Last year I received an email from Marcus V at Smashwords, asking if a "Roxanne McHugh" was the original author of something I originally posted on Nifty.org under another pen name. I responded that I was the author and that this person did not have permission to publish, and Smashwords was pretty quick about removing all of her stuff.

The funny thing was, I had no intention of publishing ebooks, I thought it would be too much trouble. After that, I decided to look into it, and as you all know, the creation of the masterpiece is the tough part, self-publishing not so difficult. Anyway, I have about 40 books on Smashwords and on Amazon kindle, and publishing about 1 every week and a half.

So, thanks, cheater!

 

[ScattySue]

Filing a copyright complaint

I just last week discovered that one of my stories had been plagiarised on Amazon. Looking at some of the other stories published by this alleged 'author', I immediately recognised two other stories from Literotica.

What I found is that there is a link at the bottom of each page in the FEEDBACK section, the last one:

> Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? Click here

This takes you to a fairly lengthy page with lots of legalese; you need to scroll down about a third of the way to the section entitled COPYRIGHT COMPLAINTS. The final part of this paragraph ("Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement") is a hyperlink to another section further down the same page: Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement. The second line has a link to the complaint form itself.

This form requires quite a lot of information and you'd think that was the end but...

Apart from the standard acknowledgement, after a day or so I received the following from Amazon:

> Hello,
>
> Thank you for the information you have provided. However, we need
> additional information regarding your infringement complaint on these items:
>
> Complaint ID: **********
>
> Before we can take action on your complaint, please clarify how these
> items infringe your rights.
>
> Amazon cannot provide any legal advice. However, if you have questions or
> concerns regarding your rights, you may wish to seek independent legal
> advice.
>
> We emphasize that this response is with no admission of any liability and
> without prejudice to any rights, remedies or defences to which we may be
> entitled, all of which are expressly reserved.
>
> We look forward to hearing from you.
>
> Seller Performance
> Amazon.co.uk

I sent a long, detailed reply, comparing the blurb quoted for the book with the passage from the Literotica webpage for my story. I quoted dates and URLs. I also cited three other stories, giving the details of the Lit. stories that they had plagiarised. I was very proud of that email!

I contacted the other authors whose work I had noticed and at one replied that she would be complaining to Amazon as I had.

It was therefore surprise when, a couple of days later, I received an email from Amazon:

> Hello,
>
> Thank you for the information you have provided. However, we need
> additional information regarding your infringement complaint on these items...

Yup: exactly the same email!

I replied again, saying that I had already clearly explained everything and, if that was insufficient, would they please tell me what else they needed. A day later the offending author had gone: every one of the half dozen or more books and all mentions of "her" had vanished.

That was four days ago and I have yet to hear anything official from Amazon, not that I'm worried about that but it rather suggests that Amazon prefer to pretend that infringements have never happened. Perhaps it's a legal thing, a bit like not apologising after a shunt in your car in case that's taken as admitting liability.

I hadn't read this thread before dealing with Amazon but I suspect from the information it contains about the "naughty points" system then the fact that I cited other plagiarised works and contacted the authors concerned who could make their own complains was the right thing to do: it quickly bumped her naughty points past the threshold.

I hope this helps any other authors who encounter similar unpleasantness.

 

[evolvingslowly]

It's not Amazon but Stolen Works

A reader sent me this link and it has all of my and other Lit author's works on it. I cant figure out how to contact the website and you can't even register for an account.

http://fetstories.com/en/

Any ideas?

 

[HuckPilgrim]

A reader sent me this link and it has all of my and other Lit author's works on it. I cant figure out how to contact the website and you can't even register for an account.

http://fetstories.com/en/

Any ideas?

Send them a DMCA takedown?

 

[evolvingslowly]

Dcma

Yes, of course. If I could contact the website I would do that. Any ideas that aren't in the box?
Addition problems prohibit that sort of thing like now wanting my actual name on a document.

 

[HuckPilgrim]

Yes, of course. If I could contact the website I would do that. Any ideas that aren't in the box?

http://whois.domaintools.com/fetstories.com

?

 

[HuckPilgrim]

Yes, of course. If I could contact the website I would do that. Any ideas that aren't in the box?
Addition problems prohibit that sort of thing like now wanting my actual name on a document.

But if you want to keep your anonymity, it's harder. This is what makes erotic stories more vulnerable. Good luck.

 

[HuckPilgrim]

Looks like Lovecraft68 might be posting over there, or maybe someone has stolen lc's stuff.

http://fetstories.com/en/author/lovecraft68/

DeathAndTaxes too.

http://fetstories.com/en/author/deathandtaxes/

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Looks like Lovecraft68 might be posting over there, or maybe someone has stolen lc's stuff.

http://fetstories.com/en/author/lovecraft68/

DeathAndTaxes too.

http://fetstories.com/en/author/deathandtaxes/

It would appear there are quite a few Lit authors posted there...

http://fetstories.com/en/author/xelliebabex/

http://fetstories.com/en/author/rgjohn/

http://fetstories.com/en/author/dr_mabeuse/

http://fetstories.com/en/author/buckyduckman/

...but at least this thief does give the author credit and has copied more than just the first page.

 

[JKendallDane]

It would appear there are quite a few Lit authors posted there...

http://fetstories.com/en/author/xelliebabex/

http://fetstories.com/en/author/rgjohn/

http://fetstories.com/en/author/dr_mabeuse/

http://fetstories.com/en/author/buckyduckman/

...but at least this thief does give the author credit and has copied more than just the first page.

Looks like they have pilfered some from gay male here also. I see robcub32, MJ Roberts, and a few others.

I guess if they are going to swipe stories, a "credit" to the authors but not Lit is better than no credit at all.

.

 

[HuckPilgrim]

They're not charging and I don't see any ads, but they are asking for email addresses. My guess is they're trying to compile a list addresses for people who are interested in erotica, possibly to do a bookbub type deal? There is a blog with comments. Maybe someone should create an account and ask what's up?

 

[Manu]

A reader sent me this link and it has all of my and other Lit author's works on it. I cant figure out how to contact the website and you can't even register for an account.

http://fetstories.com/en/

Any ideas?

Based on years of fighting these battles, these are our suggestions to start with for bringing down this thief.

1. Contact their hosting company Digital Ocean and let them know about the massive copyright violations:
http://www.whoishostingthis.com/?q=fetstories.com
Digital Ocean:
https://www.digitalocean.com/company/contact/
abuse@digitalocean.com

2. Contact Disqus, the company who hosts the FetStories.com comment system, and report the copyright violations (and adult content):
Disqus:
https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/1087175-disqus-advertising-content-guidelines
https://disqus.com/support/?article=contact_report_abuse
abuse@disqus.com

3. Contact Mail Chimp, the company that FetStories.com is using for their email list, and report the copyright violations (and adult content):
http://mailchimp.com/contact/abuse/
http://mailchimp.com/contact/
abuse@mailchimp.com

All of these companies have decent reputations, so usually you can resolve this with them privately and they will be supportive of copyright holders. They don't need a small customer that is putting them at risk legally by violating their Terms of Service.

If emailing these companies privately doesn't work, one possible next step would be to take the complaint public via social media. None of these companies want to be associated with a copyright thief - especially one that is stealing adult content. These are the Twitters of each company:
https://twitter.com/digitalocean
https://twitter.com/disqus
https://twitter.com/MailChimp
Personally, we would not go public with the complaint until we gave the companies time to reply privately. It's better to have a friendly relationship with hosting companies and sponsors when possible. They are more often than not on our side, they just need to be made aware of the problem.

We will contact Digital Ocean as well, but we highly recommend that other do the same. The more legitimate complaints that these companies get, the more likely that they will act quickly to resolve the problem.

 

[JCSTREET]

"Hear hear"

Here Here

"Hear, hear" is commonly heard in the British House of Commons, when a member says something memorable. It's an exhortation to "listen up", to pay attention to the import of the comment.

Of course, "hear, hear" is often used in a partisan sense when someone from one's party says anything at all. His or her colleagues shout "hear, hear" to sock it to the opposition (although Dr. Johnson, for all his qualities, was ignorant of the term "sock it to . . .