Our pirated works on multiple sites

[KeithD]

I'll let the lit. writers among the thread readers decide themselves where the garden path is and who would lead them down it to their detriment.

 

[lovecraft68]

I absolutely didn't say anyone had control to prevent or force anyone to remove anything. I said I hadn't a clue how you might accomplish the removal.

I did say my father's publisher had a lawyer force the removal of my father's copyrighted stories from websites that had stolen the work.

I love how you change what others say to make your point like you are. I don't, KeithGod, maybe! Is that your true identity?

I know you hate me and take every chance at belittling me. I'm glad I able to make your day!

Ignore the idiot. He once claimed to have written the current US copyright laws. In between his 5000 other accomplishments of world importance.

TBH the copyright argument is probably only #2 to under age discussion. The same people are now going to say the same things they have for the last ten years, and other people will argue it as they have for the last ten years.

End of the day, its as simple as if you put a story here or anywhere for free, its going to get lifted. The only way to avoid it is not to do it. I wrote my first story here in May 2010. I found my first stolen story three months later. Been happening ever since. As for copyright, whatever is or is not true, its a lot of work and end of the day, not worth it if they're posting for free.

Sad to say, even amazon seems to no longer care anymore as evidenced by some recent threads

 

[KeithD]

No, I haven't said I have written any copyright laws. LC always has to lie to make a bitterness point, which is really funny here since he goes on to support exactly what I've posted on this issue. He agrees with my thread points but still has to stalk me on the thread.

What I have said is that I did sit on the commission that was charged to negate the effect of the courts having to deal with all the he said/she said yammering on who owned what before the United States could sign the Berne Convention (a hundred years after it was enacted). The requirement of holding a formal copyright to take it to the court was the answer to that. Those on the commission didn't write any of the laws. I was managing editor of one of the government's publishing offices at the time. I won't deny I was just to make LC feel good about himself.

Other than LC's decade and a half of stalking me, his post means nothing on the issue. It's just his signature bitterness backbiting This is just another example of LC, who has been nowhere and done nothing much, most of which ended in failure anyway (failed at family, including having the hots for a step-sister, thrown in the slammer for violence, failed marriage, failed business, deadend warehouse job--none of this speculation; he's oh-pitied-me about all of this over the years on the board. A couple of years ago he even anounced he was quitting his deadend warehouse job to be a novelist) resenting anyone who might have had a more interesting and broad-based life then he has to the extent that he has to stalk them for it.

 

[MillieDynamite]

KeithD, you sure type a lot of angry postings. But don't say much which has value.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

The good news is that xbook.ch has finally been taken down ...

 

[oggbashan]

When I started posting stories on Yahoo Adult groups, (now largely defunct) I posted my stories as .txt. files so they were accessible to anyone. I expected them to be downloaded. They were. What I didn't expect was that many of them would appear under other authors' names on the internet. They did, but the 'authors' didn't even change a word, even leaving on my 'copyright oggbashan' to prove themselves as thieves.

 

[Comshaw]

When I started posting stories on Yahoo Adult groups, (now largely defunct) I posted my stories as .txt. files so they were accessible to anyone. I expected them to be downloaded. They were. What I didn't expect was that many of them would appear under other authors' names on the internet. They did, but the 'authors' didn't even change a word, even leaving on my 'copyright oggbashan' to prove themselves as thieves.

I've never understood this mindset. There are two types that do this. I can ALMOST understand it if someone grabs another's work and sells it for money. It's the age-old grift of getting something for nothing, or making money off someone else's labor. I could digress into a diatribe about corporations and their (mis)use of employees, but let me return to the subject at hand instead.

The second type is a person who takes someone's work and posts it for free under their name. I assume they do it for the accolades. But when those warm fuzzy's are neither earned nor really theirs, how can they enjoy them? How can they trick themselves into believing those strokes are for them when everything is built on a lie? Makes no sense to me.

Comshaw

 

[RejectReality]

I've never understood this mindset. There are two types that do this. I can ALMOST understand it if someone grabs another's work and sells it for money. It's the age-old grift of getting something for nothing, or making money off someone else's labor. I could digress into a diatribe about corporations and their (mis)use of employees, but let me return to the subject at hand instead.

The second type is a person who takes someone's work and posts it for free under their name. I assume they do it for the accolades. But when those warm fuzzy's are neither earned nor really theirs, how can they enjoy them? How can they trick themselves into believing those strokes are for them when everything is built on a lie? Makes no sense to me.

Comshaw

Mine were getting horked by some jackhole on Fetlife. From what I could gather from those who informed me, he was turning those accolades into a draw that widened his pool of kinksters to interact with. Hadn't garnered much notice before he started plagiarizing other people's stories and claiming them as his own.

 

[oggbashan]

There is a third type:

A new website that wants either paying customers or want people to click on it to allow malware. They need content and will grab it from anywhere, usually using bots. That is why many seem only to copy the first page of a story. That and the title are enough for their purpose of attracting the vulnerable.

 

[Bramblethorn]

The second type is a person who takes someone's work and posts it for free under their name. I assume they do it for the accolades. But when those warm fuzzy's are neither earned nor really theirs, how can they enjoy them? How can they trick themselves into believing those strokes are for them when everything is built on a lie? Makes no sense to me.

There is a third type:

A new website that wants either paying customers or want people to click on it to allow malware. They need content and will grab it from anywhere, usually using bots. That is why many seem only to copy the first page of a story. That and the title are enough for their purpose of attracting the vulnerable.

Yeah, the second type does exist, but these days the third kind seems to be much more common. Even if the visitors aren't paying them directly, they'll be trying to redirect to things like affiliate links that can make them money.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I thought all the authors on this site might be interested to know that I just found my Halloween story, "The Old House on Drury Lane" for sale on Amazon. The rip-off artist's name is Ashwin Kr. They're so lazy, they didn't even bother to take the contest entry blurb off the beginning of the story. He or She, whoever the thief is, has about ten or twenty other titles to their credit, that have probably been lifted from Literotica. So, everyone might want to take a look to see if any of your work has been stolen.

Funny, I chose a one of kind name for this story so I could track it and see if anyone tried to steal it. Well, it paid off, because I was surprised to find it for sale by a fake author.

I'm going to contact Amazon and tell them that this story has been stolen, and I want it taken down.

Just thought everyone should take a look to see if you've been ripped-off, too.

 

[Emotional]

I see many I recognize

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I thought all the authors on this site might be interested to know that I just found my Halloween story, "The Old House on Drury Lane" for sale on Amazon. The rip-off artist's name is Ashwin Kr. They're so lazy, they didn't even bother to take the contest entry blurb off the beginning of the story. He or She, whoever the thief is, has about ten or twenty other titles to their credit, that have probably been lifted from Literotica. So, everyone might want to take a look to see if any of your work has been stolen.

Funny, I chose a one of kind name for this story so I could track it and see if anyone tried to steal it. Well, it paid off, because I was surprised to find it for sale by a fake author.

I'm going to contact Amazon and tell them that this story has been stolen, and I want it taken down.

Just thought everyone should take a look to see if you've been ripped-off, too.

Thanks very much for letting us know. I found my story, "Art of Deception - Renaissance," for sale on the same page. I just filed a complaint with Amazon to have it removed. As with your story, the person simply scraped the full text, including my Author's Note at the beginning. First time it's happened to me (at least, first time I've noticed).

What's particularly galling (apart from, you know, having your work stolen and sold for profit) is the cover. It's all 1980s neon with a Miami Vice-style font. Just about as far from the actual story (forensic art detective matching wits with a master forger) as you could possibly get. At least they squeezed in a tiny sliver of a painting in the background.

I also recognized several pirated stories from another author on this site and sent him a private message to make him aware.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Thanks very much for letting us know. I found my story, "Art of Deception - Renaissance," for sale on the same page. I just filed a complaint with Amazon to have it removed. As with your story, the person simply scraped the full text, including my Author's Note at the beginning. First time it's happened to me (at least, first time I've noticed).

What's particularly galling (apart from, you know, having your work stolen and sold for profit) is the cover. It's all 1980s neon with a Miami Vice-style font. Just about as far from the actual story (forensic art detective matching wits with a master forger) as you could possibly get. At least they squeezed in a tiny sliver of a painting in the background.

I also recognized several pirated stories from another author on this site and sent him a private message to make him aware.

Glad to help.

The cover for my story was pretty bad, too. But all I want is for it to be taken down. It looks like they've lifted about twenty stories from here.

I lodged a complaint with Amazon, and hopefully they will remove all of Ashwin Kr's stolen titles.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I just noticed that three of the stolen stories have made it onto goodreads, one even scoring a perfect 5!

Let's just hope Amazon reacts and takes the stories down. I've found some of my work on Wattpad before, but this is the first time I've found anything on Amazon.

 

[Escierto]

Ashwin Kr is still going strong on Amazon with all the titles mentioned in this thread! He is very prolific - he has twenty titles on Amazon.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Ashwin Kr is still going strong on Amazon with all the titles mentioned in this thread! He is very prolific - he has twenty titles on Amazon.

All of them lifted from Literotica.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I think if you say it's cheaper elsewhere, ie free, it has a better chance of being removed

 

[ThatNewGuy]

For anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes process of filing a complaint, below is the response I received from Amazon. They asked me to provide proof that Ashwin Kr copied the story verbatim (as opposed to just using the same title and writing about similar subject matter). I replied with two long text excerpts and screenshots, so hopefully that does the trick.

Fun tidbit: you'll see below that Amazon asks the person filing the complaint to review the COMPLETE text of each work, then provide specific examples. The only way to review the complete text of the stolen work would be for me to BUY my own stolen story from the thief! Good stuff.

I took Rusty's advice above, and I also emphasized that all the works on Ashwin Kr's page were stolen from other Lit authors and should also be removed.

Lastly, there's an interesting little irony that my story, which is about a forger who copies stolen art for a living, was posted to Amazon by a forger who copies stolen art for a living.


RESPONSE FROM AMAZON
================

Hello,

Thank you for your message. In reviewing your claim, it appears that your objection is to the title of this book and/or its inclusion of similar content to your own work. Please note that copyright protections do not extend to the title of a given work and only cover your own particular expression of an idea.

It is not possible for us to do a comparison of the texts. If, after you have reviewed the complete text of each work, you believe that the book(s) referenced contain text you wrote without your permission, please reply to this email and include specific examples for review.

We do not need you to provide an additional signature as long as you send the above information from this e-mail address. Also, please be aware that the publisher of this title will be provided your e-mail address to contact you in the event that they disagree with your claims that they have stolen your work.

Regards,
Amazon.com

 

[Smuttyandfun]

For anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes process of filing a complaint, below is the response I received from Amazon. They asked me to provide proof that Ashwin Kr copied the story verbatim (as opposed to just using the same title and writing about similar subject matter). I replied with two long text excerpts and screenshots, so hopefully that does the trick.

Fun tidbit: you'll see below that Amazon asks the person filing the complaint to review the COMPLETE text of each work, then provide specific examples. The only way to review the complete text of the stolen work would be for me to BUY my own stolen story from the thief! Good stuff.

I took Rusty's advice above, and I also emphasized that all the works on Ashwin Kr's page were stolen from other Lit authors and should also be removed.

Lastly, there's an interesting little irony that my story, which is about a forger who copies stolen art for a living, was posted to Amazon by a forger who copies stolen art for a living.


RESPONSE FROM AMAZON
================

Hello,

Thank you for your message. In reviewing your claim, it appears that your objection is to the title of this book and/or its inclusion of similar content to your own work. Please note that copyright protections do not extend to the title of a given work and only cover your own particular expression of an idea.

It is not possible for us to do a comparison of the texts. If, after you have reviewed the complete text of each work, you believe that the book(s) referenced contain text you wrote without your permission, please reply to this email and include specific examples for review.

We do not need you to provide an additional signature as long as you send the above information from this e-mail address. Also, please be aware that the publisher of this title will be provided your e-mail address to contact you in the event that they disagree with your claims that they have stolen your work.

Regards,
Amazon.com

Interesting. Judging from what they sent, it does appear that we would have to actually pay for the stolen copy of our work, in order to prove that it's been stolen.

I would think, since a few of us have written to complain that our work has been stolen from this site, it would be enough to convince them to take the stories down.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Interesting. Judging from what they sent, it does appear that we would have to actually pay for the stolen copy of our work, in order to prove that it's been stolen.

I would think, since a few of us have written to complain that our work has been stolen from this site, it would be enough to convince them to take the stories down.

Hard to argue with a bot though.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Hard to argue with a bot though.

Sadly, I think you're right.

I also attempted to put a comment on my stolen story, saying that I am the author, and that Ashwin Kr has stolen 100% of what's she's trying to sell on Amazon from another web site. But no surprise, Amazon didn't post it.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

For anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes process of filing a complaint, below is the response I received from Amazon. They asked me to provide proof that Ashwin Kr copied the story verbatim (as opposed to just using the same title and writing about similar subject matter). I replied with two long text excerpts and screenshots, so hopefully that does the trick.

Fun tidbit: you'll see below that Amazon asks the person filing the complaint to review the COMPLETE text of each work, then provide specific examples. The only way to review the complete text of the stolen work would be for me to BUY my own stolen story from the thief! Good stuff.

I took Rusty's advice above, and I also emphasized that all the works on Ashwin Kr's page were stolen from other Lit authors and should also be removed.

Lastly, there's an interesting little irony that my story, which is about a forger who copies stolen art for a living, was posted to Amazon by a forger who copies stolen art for a living.


RESPONSE FROM AMAZON
================

Hello,

Thank you for your message. In reviewing your claim, it appears that your objection is to the title of this book and/or its inclusion of similar content to your own work. Please note that copyright protections do not extend to the title of a given work and only cover your own particular expression of an idea.

It is not possible for us to do a comparison of the texts. If, after you have reviewed the complete text of each work, you believe that the book(s) referenced contain text you wrote without your permission, please reply to this email and include specific examples for review.

We do not need you to provide an additional signature as long as you send the above information from this e-mail address. Also, please be aware that the publisher of this title will be provided your e-mail address to contact you in the event that they disagree with your claims that they have stolen your work.

Regards,
Amazon.com

Just thought I'd let you know, I looked for works by Ashwin Kr on Amazon. And on her story list, now only 12 stories are shown. Then I entered the title of my story, and it still comes up on separate page, as does yours. It looks like they haven't deleted them.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I know that not every author check into this forum, but I still thought I'd list the stories here that have been lifted by the fake author Ashwin Kr and published on Amazon, so that we can all let them know that we want our stories taken down.

So, here's the list:

The Shack: The Milk Run by Todd172
The 30th Variation by Tilan
Not Your Average Celebrity Nanny by EverdayMermaid
Rochelle And Me by Gollyroger
The Green Sofa by Pokerman757
Alone In The Bundu by Sunadmire
Family Secrets by April602
Yoga And Cuckoldry For Couples by NYbiwm
Dream Small by Rollinbones
Art of the Deception - Renaissance by The New Guy
A Change of Heart and Mind by Cali-Love
Billiards And The Shindo by Cali-Love
Kitchen Antics by ladywolf
Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream by JukeboxEMCSA
Vodka Sting by Todd172
Call of the Wile by darkmind222
Test Drive by TheSleepingKing
Bad to Me by Harddaysknight
How I Lost My Virginity by Elizacontessa
SafariNY - An Evening With Eve by maestro84
My Fantasy Night with Mistress by Skills694
The Old House on Drury Lane by Smuttyandfun

If everyone lets Amazon know that Ashwin Kr has been lifting our stories and publishing them as her own, hopefully they'll take them down.

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I know that not every author check into this forum, but I still thought I'd list the stories here that have been lifted by the fake author Ashwin Kr and published on Amazon, so that we can all let them know that we want our stories taken down.

So, here's the list:

The Shack: The Milk Run by Todd172
The 30th Variation by Tilan
Not Your Average Celebrity Nanny by EverdayMermaid
Rochelle And Me by Gollyroger
The Green Sofa by Pokerman757
Alone In The Bundu by Sunadmire
Family Secrets by April602
Yoga And Cuckoldry For Couples by NYbiwm
Dream Small by Rollinbones
Art of the Deception - Renaissance by The New Guy
A Change of Heart and Mind by Cali-Love
Billiards And The Shindo by Cali-Love
Kitchen Antics by ladywolf
Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream by JukeboxEMCSA
Vodka Sting by Todd172
Call of the Wile by darkmind222
Test Drive by TheSleepingKing
Bad to Me by Harddaysknight
How I Lost My Virginity by Elizacontessa
An Evening With Eve by maestro84
My Fantasy Night with Mistress by Skills694
The Old House on Drury Lane by Smuttyandfun

If everyone lets Amazon know that Ashwin Kr has been lifting our stories and publishing them as her own, hopefully they'll take them down.

After providing screenshots and text excerpts to Amazon proving that "Art of Deception - Renaissance" was stolen by Ashwin Kr, I received the response below indicating that Amazon would remove it. I just confirmed that it no longer appears on Ashwin Kr's page.

However, 19 of the stories that Smuttyandfun listed above are still posted to Ashwin Kr's page, even though my complaint asked Amazon to remove ALL the stolen stories, not just mine. Only my story's ASIN is listed in Amazon's reply below, so unfortunately it seems that they are treating each story on a case-by-case basis.

=================

RESPONSE FROM AMAZON

Hello,

Thank you for your message. Please be advised that we are in the process of removing the following Kindle titles from sale on all Amazon sites:

B0BGT26SV8

It typically takes 2-3 days for the changes to be reflected on the sites. We trust this will bring this matter to a close.

Complaint ID: [redacted]

Regards,
Amazon.com

=================

For those whose stolen stories are still posted, and for those who might see this thread in the future, here is what I did to get my story removed. I hope you never have to take these steps. But if you do, I hope this explanation and level of detail will be helpful.

1. File a copyright complaint via Amazon's website. Make sure to indicate that your entire work was copied word-for-word, not just the title (I didn't specify this in my original complaint). I'd also recommend including in the Description section two text excerpts (one from your story and one from the stolen story) to show that they are identical. I didn't do this. If you do it right off the bat, you may get faster results.

2. You'll receive a response from their ip-inquiries email address. I got an automated response saying my complaint was received, then a follow-up response saying that only the title and subject matter were the same. They basically said they couldn't take action unless I could prove the text was copied word-for-word.

3. Reply to the email you received from their ip-inquiries email address with specifics. State that your work has been copied in its entirety. Add that your work is available for free on Literotica (provide a link), whereas the Amazon user is attempting to sell the stolen copy.

4. In your reply, provide specific examples to prove your work was copied. I pasted a long text excerpt from my story and labeled it "Excerpt from Original Story". I included a link to the story and its publication date. I pasted the identical text excerpt below that and labeled it "Excerpt from Stolen Story". I included a link and the date it was posted to show that my story had been published first. I also included multiple screenshots of text of the stolen story that I grabbed from the "preview text" feature on Amazon.

I hope this information is helpful.