Forum: Author Hangout

Plagiarism/copyright infringement reports have to come from the copyright owner or an official representative of the owner, and reviews aren't the place to make those reports.

It is simple to copy a paragraph from the "sample" provided and do a google search, which will lead to the story in SOL.

Unless the real author posted the story under their real name, your suggested Google search proves nothing other than that the story was posted elsewhere before it was posted to Amazon.

If it was posted under a pseudonym, it doesn't prove, it isn't even evidence, that the person who put it up on Amazon isn't the real author.

This is why Amazon only accepts copyright infringement reports from someone claiming to be the real author or an officially designated agent of the author.

If a publishing company receives a report that a book they published was stolen content, they can do nothing about it UNLESS that claim is backed by proof of that work existing under the name of a different author and that predates the initial acceptance of the work for publication. Such proof is only legal IF presented by the original author, their legally appointed representatives or legal heirs if deceased. Even if legal proof is presented, the publishing company is only required at that point to stop sales and printings of the work in question. It would take a legal judgment against the publishing company for any other repercussions to be considered and that would only happen if the publishing company was found complicit in the initial theft of the copyrighted work or if the publishing company had done something to damage the reputation of the original author or the work in question.

In other words, publishing companies cannot be found at fault for "receiving stolen goods" just because they published the stolen work. They actually have to be either criminally or civilly convicted of being involved in the initial theft.

So if McGraw-Hill prints a book that turns out to have been stolen, do they face any repercussions?

They might, it depends on a lot of factors. The following assumes US Copyright law.

The actual copyright owner (or an officially designated agent would have to file a lawsuit for copyright infringement (copyright is civil, not criminal)

The owner will have to provide the court with proof of authorship.

If the copyright is not registered, the author has to prove "actual damages".

https://patentsavers.com/unregistered-copyright-infringement-damages/

In the case of an unregistered copyright, damages are limited to those which can be proven; in other words, actual damages. This means that the holder of an unregistered copyright can recover:

Any actual damages,
Any actual profits or money lost, or even potentially lost, and
Any money gained by the person who is using the work without permission.

So, assuming a story published on (and stolen from) SOL for free, that limits damages to "Any money gained by the person who is using the work without permission".

If the real author is deceased and their heirs are unaware of the existence of the story, then McGraw-Hill is extremely unlikely to face any legal repercussions.

And even on "bad publicity" type repercussions, if the story was published pseudonymously and the real author is unable to come forward, significant repercussions are rather unlikely.