I noticed someone with stolen copies of various authors work on Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=k+sanche&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=k+sanche&sort=relevancerank
I could see some by Crumblywriter, lazlong, Brendan Buckley and others.
I've left negative reviews on a variety of them, but I cant report as I'm not the author / agent.
It's been brought up in the other Amazon thread, a couple of times now, by Ernest Bywater. But the new thread(and some blogging about the 2nd account) about this probably was warranted for those that stopped monitoring the other thread.
I only looked through the other thread quickly, so I missed that k sanche was mentioned halfway down somewhere, sorry to start another thread.
I can't see anyway I can complain about this sort of thing on amazon though, have you guys figured out a way for non authors to report stuff like this?
I can't see anyway I can complain about this sort of thing on amazon though, have you guys figured out a way for non authors to report stuff like this?
It's not easy to find, but use Amazon's Report Infringement form, fill in the appropriate information (most notably the ASN of the book in violation, as well as your original so they can verify that it's yours (so it won't be held up for weeks while they attempt to trace who actually owns the work).
It's fairly straight forward. And remember to keep the form handy, as you'll undoubtedly need to use it again, as the same people keep posting the same works in different places.
I can't see anyway I can complain about this sort of thing on amazon though, have you guys figured out a way for non authors to report stuff like this?
if you have an amazon account you can post a 1 star review which simply says it's a stolen work - that should alert anyone looking at it.
if you have an amazon account you can post a 1 star review which simply says it's a stolen work - that should alert anyone looking at it.
Unfortunately, Amazon is taking the 'every single violation is innocent until proven guilty (again), so they'll only act if you can document that you're the original rights holder, and can document that you hold the original rights (the fastest way is to prove that you published it previously on Amazon, otherwise they'll waste weeks pretending to chase the information down).
Face it people, Amazon is making a fortune in unclaimed funds by these types of copyright thefts, which is why they continue to allow them to prosper and don't restrict the posters.
Face it people, Amazon is making a fortune in unclaimed funds by these types of copyright thefts, which is why they continue to allow them to prosper and don't restrict the posters.
Unless you can find a legal means to threaten Amazon's bottom line they won't care.
Unfortunately, Amazon is taking the 'every single violation is innocent until proven guilty (again), so they'll only act if you can document that you're the original rights holder, and can document that you hold the original rights
I quote my isbn number in the complaint form to Amazon now, and also tell them where they cans see it on lulu and storiesonline - not as urls but site name only. Three of the stories I lodged complaints about this time are the same as the problem we had a few months back with the same group of thieves.
I lodged complaints about this time are the same as the problem we had a few months back with the same group of thieves.
Well, we can't know for sure that it's the same group, but the MO sure is familiar.
My hunch is the people ripping off the stories do not speak English. You may not have noticed, but every Veronica West title dropped the apostrophe that the original title included. I also noticed that when you checked the sample of the story, which was part of the stolen content, the apostrophe was included in the title.
IIRC, EB's encounter with Hooriya Ahmed pointed to Pakistan as her home.
I wonder if filing a complaint with Interpol about an International Plagiarism Ring would have any affect.
Well, we can't know for sure that it's the same group, but the MO sure is familiar.
same cover art design, same crappy images on the covers, same way of posting and using the same services - 95% plus probability it's the same group.
Amazon is making a fortune in unclaimed funds by these types of copyright thefts, which is why they continue to allow them to prosper
I don't believe that. They'll make a fortune without these stories.
They'll make a fortune without these stories.
Greedy people never have enough. Amazon is a company run by greedy people.
I don't believe that. They'll make a fortune without these stories.
True, they'll make a fortune either way, but still, it's obviously that they're profiting by their refusal to shut the abuse down entirely, as the entirety of those 'uncollected' sales goes directly into THEIR pockets!
We'll see just how many of us will see any 'transferred' money from these sales, and, if so, whether we'll be able to make sense of how Amazon reports their distribution of funds!
have you guys figured out a way for non authors to report stuff like this?
There's a price match link on Amazon. If you see the book for free and notify Amazon, they will make it free. If the crooks aren't making money they may stop.
There's a price match link on Amazon.
That is a good idea. Do they set the posted price as free or only your price.
That is a good idea. Do they set the posted price as free or only your price.
The posted price.
The posted price.
I just read CW's post and he is right. Targeting a book that is sold on Amazon by the actual Author would hurt that Author. Oh well another approach bites the dust. :(
How would Amazon know that the legit book is the same as the pirated book? And, if they know that, why haven't they questioned the fact that the same book is being offered by two distinct authors?
AJ
How would Amazon know that the legit book is the same as the pirated book?
They won't know until someone reports it. Once it's reported, it wouldn't take them long to figure it out.
How would Amazon know that the legit book is the same as the pirated book? And, if they know that, why haven't they questioned the fact that the same book is being offered by two distinct authors?
In order to expedite the investigation phase, I've been listing the ASN of both my books and the copyrighted books so it's clear that one definitely came after the other.
Again, there's no contract between authors and Amazon that someone else won't publish the same book for a cheaper price, only that the author themselves can't drop the price. Calling attention to the price difference only hurts the legitimate author.
Calling attention to the price difference only hurts the legitimate author.
In hurts the author solely due to the Amazon policy about price matching. Sell via another organisation that doesn't have such a policy, and it's no problem.
But, as I said before, I'd first check to make sure you don't hurt a legitimate author by reporting a lower price.
In order to expedite the investigation phase, I've been listing the ASN of both my books and the copyrighted books so it's clear that one definitely came after the other.
Thank you. I understand your concerns now.
AJ
There's a price match link on Amazon. If you see the book for free and notify Amazon, they will make it free. If the crooks aren't making money they may stop.
If you take that tact, and my legitimate book ends up being banned in order to placate fools like you, believe me, I'm going to be plenty pissed!
If you take that tact, and my legitimate book ends up being banned in order to placate fools like you, believe me, I'm going to be plenty pissed!
It wouldn't be banned by that mechanism, its price would simply drop to 0. Still annoying for your efforts to legitimately profit on your own work.
I only did a price match report on the cmsix works, and some of the very short/incomplete titles for that reason.
There's a price match link on Amazon. If you see the book for free and notify Amazon, they will make it free. If the crooks aren't making money they may stop.
that may work if the author isn't trying to sell on Amazon to begin with. It would work with cmsix's stories since he doesn't sell them at all, and it would work with mine because I sell the pay for stuff through Lulu and they won't follow Amazon's lead on the price. But it would hurt people like CW who does sell on Amazon.
The similarities with "Veronica West" go further than are immediately obvious: Author names start with A, B or C. I have not noticed if any particular stories were in both lists but several of the authors definitely were.
Filed another complaint, as well as listing sanche k's history of posting other people's works. It's interesting to note that the Amazon.uk site notes 74 works, spread across 5 pages of results, most of which only contain 2 items. It appears the rest have already been removed/yanked.
most of which only contain 2 items. It appears the rest have already been removed/yanked.
check if there's a blue link at the top of the page saying something like 'show all stories' because some of them have an adult rating lock that doesn't automatically display until after you hit that link.
