Amazon Ebook Copyright Complaints & How To Fight Stolen Ebooks

[oggbashan]

Here's another site with many Literotica stories listed. http://wellsexstories.com

They have at least a dozen of mine including "copyright oggbashan" posted this month. I have sent them a message asking for them to be deleted.

 

[MindsMirror]

They have at least a dozen of mine including "copyright oggbashan" posted this month. I have sent them a message asking for them to be deleted.

We didn't see an e-mail, but also messaged them via the contact page. http://wellsexstories.com/contact-us/
It would be nice to know if they respond.

-MM

 

[MindsMirror]

Cross posting from our Take down squad / buddy system thread:

Found another site that appears to have lifted nearly every story from Literotica.
Free Erotic Stories

We PM'd Laurel that they even list literotica in the top lines of their web page... No idea if they're doing it with permission. However, they appear to leave off the Copyright unless it was included within the text of the story.

Here's their contact page.

We're definitely submitting stories with full copyright included from now on.
-MM

 

[NotWise]

Several months ago I found that at least the opening of "Unlikely Angels" was on another site. I visited the site and what they posted was an unformatted word glop that probably no-one would read.

I checked again today and found it on at least three other sites, and at least two of those sites had the full set of chapters to date. The two I visited actually had it very readably formatted, and in one case it was wrapped nicely around pictures of naked women--which is actually a little discordant with the story. Just the same, nice presentation.

A couple of my other stories turned up as well -- one on a Latvian site with Cyrillic text that I couldn't read to save my life. So despite Google finding it I have no idea where it actually is or what it looks like.

My bottom line is that I don't really care--for now, anyway. I'm not posting for income and in a lot of cases I don't get much feedback from Lit readers. The fact that someone is willing to rip off the story and go through the effort to present it in a sexy, readable format is kinda pleasing. It's feedback.

 

[HuckPilgrim]

Several months ago I found that at least the opening of "Unlikely Angels" was on another site.

How do you find these? Do you google the titles? I have not been very successful with that approach. I have a google keyword alert for "Huck Pilgrim" and occasionally I see one of my stories on another site, but often it's a site that just has the blurb and points back to smashwords with what I assume is an affiliate link. That's not what you're describing though.

It's not just you. I see authors popping up in this thread from time to time saying they've found their work on other sites, and my question always is, how did you find it?

 

[oggbashan]

...

It's not just you. I see authors popping up in this thread from time to time saying they've found their work on other sites, and my question always is, how did you find it?

I search (with adult filter OFF) for "copyright oggbashan" with or without the quote marks.

Obviously many of the results are Literotica but in the first few responses I found my story "Three Graces of Maidstone" translated into Czech.

 

[HuckPilgrim]

I search (with adult filter OFF) for "copyright oggbashan" with or without the quote marks.

Thanks ogg!

Maybe I should do like you and add a copyright line (with my name) to each of my stories. If I want to find it reused on another site with search, I have to hope that the thief leaves my name and the statement intact.

 

[oggbashan]

Thanks ogg!

Maybe I should do like you and add a copyright line (with my name) to each of my stories. If I want to find it reused on another site with search, I have to hope that the thief leaves my name and the statement intact.

They usually do because they use a web crawler to load a site with stories.

 

[NotWise]

How do you find these? Do you google the titles? I have not been very successful with that approach.

I haven't had luck Googling titles. Google the opening line (or some other distinctive line) of the story. You can put the line in quotes to limit the number of hits, but if Google doesn't get many hits then it will give you the results without quotation marks anyway.

You may get a short list, with a note at the bottom saying something to the effect of "other similar matches have been omitted." I found several copies in the "other similar matches."

 

[HuckPilgrim]

I like ogg's idea about adding a copyright line. It reaffirms the copyright and also adds a (mostly) unique string to each story. I think if you go into the advanced Google search, there is an option for ignoring a particular domain. If that's true, you could overcome the issue with getting all the stories here in the hits.

In fact, I could probably set up a Google keyword alert for the copyright string and then get a notice from Google if it finds that string as it crawled the web. So I would be expecting the alert right after I publish here on lit, but then if Google found an instance of it in some far flung galaxy, it would alert me and I could go investigate.

Thanks guys. This has been a helpful exchange. Now I just have to remember to add the line to future stories (which I really should be doing anyhow).

 

[oggbashan]

I like ogg's idea about adding a copyright line. It reaffirms the copyright and also adds a (mostly) unique string to each story.

...

Just remember that my copyright statement, although valid in the UK and countries which have fully implemented the Berne Convention, is completely useless in practice.

There is no way I can enforce my copyright for anything I have posted on Literotica or anywhere on the internet.

But it helps me find where my stories have gone.

 

[Harddaysknight]

I had at at least one story stolen

I can look at this more clearly. My story, Lady in Red, was stolen by "Lorraine Kathryn", which could be a 400 pound man in Jakarta, Bombay, Miami, or Pittsburgh. Never trust a stealing bitch with two first names! I saw where other writers had been plagiarized and Googled my story with no results the other day. That led me to falsely feel I was safe. My ego, however, refused to believe that my story was not good enough to steal. This morning I Googled the names of my main characters and voila! Amazon had a Kindle book for sale for $4.99 with those very characters called "Red". Amazed at the coincidence I read the teaser and found my story, word for word. if "she" would steal the names and the first paragraph, it is a good bet "she" would steal it all.

I urge writers to Google their work in various ways, not just by title because these thieves are so smart, they actually change the title. I ask that readers be on the look out and warn writers of problems and to never support the pricks that steal from us. We work pretty hard at this and for free on this site. A little respect and common decency should not be too much to ask in return, although it seems to be too much from these pricks that steal our intellectual property. (I love that term). I will let everyone know how it all turns out and again, I urge others to look for their works.

I will give a page with my thief's stories. One of them could be yours, as I highly doubt that "she" has ever written anything. GET THIS! I just looked at her books and she spelled her last name wrong on the covers! Is that a tip-off, or what? Who would publish a book and spell their own name wrong? Her title page spells it Kathryn" and her books have Kathyrn, an obvious error. The guy may not even speak English!
https://www.amazon.com/lorraine-kathryn/e/B01B446K4U/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

 

[GrandTeton]

More thefts

This is a site of "free" reads that operates on stolen stories. All they do is take out the copyright and author attribution from Lit. The rest is there.
https://www.eroticlifestories.com/ and story name. They don't even change it.

 

[redzinger]

A lovely Lit author messaged me to tell me I have joined the dubious club of having my work stolen.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0796WJCNB/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0

I've filled in the contact form, but is there anything else I need to be doing please?

 

[Captainnumnuts]

I read through the this thread and the closed one last night. Very insightful and useful knowledge. I'm new to this aspect of it.

 

[redzinger]

A lovely Lit author messaged me to tell me I have joined the dubious club of having my work stolen.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0796WJCNB/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0

I've filled in the contact form, but is there anything else I need to be doing please?

Seeing as no one responded to this, and neither have Amazon removed the novel, I have emailed them this notice, the template and instructions for which I found here:

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/07/06/sample-dmca-take-down-letter/id=4501/

I modified the language slightly as the original notice was for a company.

Please note that abusecomplaints@markmonitor.com is the host/service provider for Amazon according to the lookup link above.

To: abusecomplaints@markmonitor.com; copyright@amazon.com,
cc: cs-reply@amazon.co.uk

subject: DCMA Notice/Notification of Infringement of IP rights by Beatrix Randall - ASIN: B0796WJCNB


My name is Toria Lyons. A website that your company hosts (according to WHOIS information) is infringing on at least one of my copyrights.

A story was copied onto your servers without permission. The original story, to which I own the exclusive copyright, can be found at:

https://www.literotica.com/s/playing-power-games
A later version is also published on my website:
http://www.torialyons.co.uk/2015/02/14/playing-power-games-chapter-1-an-anti-valentines-tale/


The unauthorized and infringing copy can be found at:

https://www.amazon.com/POWER-GAMES-Domination-Beatrix-Randall-ebook/dp/B0796WJCNB (ASIN: B0796WJCNB)

This letter is official notification under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your servers. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately, and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material to your server in the future.

Please also be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under US law a service provider, such as yourself, enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided that you act with deliberate speed to investigate and rectify ongoing copyright infringement. If service providers do not investigate and remove or disable the infringing material this immunity is lost. Therefore, in order for you to remain immune from a copyright infringement action you will need to investigate and ultimately remove or otherwise disable the infringing material from your servers with all due speed should the direct infringer, your client, not comply immediately.

I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that rights are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act as the owner of the copyright involved.

Should you wish to discuss this with me please contact me directly.

Thank you.

Toria Lyons
[contact details - include AT LEAST an email address]

 

[MistressCassy]

I just want to say thank you for the info and I'm glad I joined this site. Being able to discuss this type of thing is incredibly helpful (especially as a "new" author). I'm also glad to see there are ways around utilizing your real name and hope to find out more details for everyone at some point.

 

[dawei]

Mia Slabe - copy infringement

I found my Lit story series in an unauthorized ebook on Amazon. Considering I haven’t receive much feedback on my story I was surprised to see it was selected to be copied. Should I feel flattered? Heck, there’s even a sexy photo cover for the ebook, which is something I don’t have!

But seriously, I don’t like that it was stolen. It is interesting that I happened to find out about it. Occasionally I do a web searched by title and my author name. But it wouldn’t have been found like that. Instead, I searched by my chapter description and there it was on Amazon. My Lit submission story descriptions were there verbatim on Amazon. The crook “author” didn’t even bother to change that. A few words where change here and there, but paragraph by paragraph, chapter by chapter, it was the same story.

In my opinion the tweaked story was worse than my original. Does anyone want to compare the difference? I’d like to hear your opinion. You can view a few ebook chapters for free.

“A Flame in the Night” by Dawei
https://www.literotica.com/s/a-flame-in-the-night-ch-01

versus

[Note: I was successful in removing the pirated ebook from Amazon]
“Night Romance” by Mia Slabe
https://www.amazon.com/Night-Romance-Mia-Slabe-ebook/dp/B00N4Y49HO/


Undoubtedly, the pirate author Mia Slabe has ripped off other Lit authors. Below is link of her ebooks. There’s about 25 ebooks total and some being sold in other countries as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Mia-Slabe/e/B00NRGXIHQ/

As an example, I notice one of her books titled “Training of Tina” appears to be from Lit author Tappy_ McWidestance, titled “Sara's Training”. The character was renamed from Sara to Tina, and the title “Tina heads to Vegas for the Mistress” is almost identical to the original “Sara heads to Vegas for the Mistress”.
https://www.amazon.com/Training-Tina-Mia-Slabe-ebook/dp/B00NJVIAXG/

Another example is the ebook “XXX Collection - The finest of Erotica (BDSM Book 1)”. This is a collection of works, but the story “She visits her neighbors having porch sex and joins in” shows up as a work from Lit author jackvick, story titled “That Neighbor Couple”.
https://www.amazon.com/XXX-Collection-finest-Erotica-BDSM-ebook/dp/B00N18B192/

If you recognize your work was stolen perhaps comment here and report it to amazon (see helpful posts #91 above).

 

[SexyMinnie420]

So annoying

Seems like its mine, not gonna buy it to fully check it out, but she legit didnt even change the intro in yours...crazy ill be reporting it.

 

[12356416514a]

This sucks and should be fined. A few days ago I was going through my favorites and noticed a story missing. I had the author still in my favorites but noticed that all their stories were gone. I searched the title of the story in google and it directed me to a amazon page where the story used to be sold as an ebook. It's kinda crappy that people take down their stories because others steal them to sell them on amazon. Stealing content without giving credit is a very shitty thing to do. I don't write stories but I used to be a active modder in some gaming communities and people steal content there too.

 

[12356416514a]

Found a stolen story today


This story by Jove Plaza called Lost Bet: A Betrayed Cuckold's Journey stole from Bet with Roommate Leads to Cuckold by voyeurman27.

It's not a 1:1 copy, but entire parts have been stolen. I have two comparison pictures here

These parts have been stolen, there is no doubt. It's literally the same text. Makes me wonder if most of her other stories are stolen too. Because they really vary a lot in quality.

 

[hahaIinsist]

I have found several thieves who have plagiarized from literotica on smashwords and amazon. I try informing the authors but many of them are inactive. I apologize if this is not the appropriate place to post this.


https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/SoMacDonald

Sandra & Son = Morning Light by rgjohn

Mayos & Friends = Submissive by linkznut

The Opposite of Innocence = From Innocence to Lust by mtnman2003



https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DHaze

About Time = Beyond the Borderline by CPBaudelaire




https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DonnaR4U

Reality TV = Auctioned Wives by Karenkay

Journey Down Under = Cyrus' New Zealand Adventure by rd_bombay

Blackmailed Wife = Wife Is Blackmailed by hotwife2k

Donna Russet was a little harder to suss out since they actually filled in their profile a bit and turned off samples to the work they stole. One of the summaries sounded too familiar however and I was able to google proof that they did indeed plagiarize the stories doing the usual name changes.


https://www.amazon.com/Seducing-My-...s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1529935797&sr=1-10

Seducing My Stepmother = Moving to San Diego by hetup

Timothy Spears used to be on Smashwords but was thankfully removed after they stupidly plagiarized an author who happened to be on Smashwords as well. However they are still selling stolen work on Amazon.


These are just examples of the works plagiarized. I'd say about 95% of the works posted by these people were plagiarized from literotica with the other 5% plagiarized from other sources.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

I guess I'm a real author now... people have stolen from me

https://sfico.info/story/74855-rayne-falls-ch-01.html

 

[alextasy]

RandyStories

Just discovered that all of my stories have been re-printed at RandyStories. In fact, it appears that every story and author on Literotica has been reproduced there.

https://randystories.com/

Is this site related to Lit?

-a

 

[HuckPilgrim]

Don't click this link. It seems like malware of some sort.

Just discovered that all of my stories have been re-printed at RandyStories. In fact, it appears that every story and author on Literotica has been reproduced there.

https://randystories.com/

Is this site related to Lit?

-a