Forum: Author Hangout

I'd steal those right back.

Ha! They probably don't own the copyright to the images or fonts.

Ha! They probably don't own the copyright to the images or fonts.

I seriously doubt they do, but it doesn't mean that those images, just like the stories, aren't copyrighted by a specific artist. In other words, you're not stealing from thief, but simply restealing their stolen works. You should always search for and credit any image or graphic you use, for whatever reason.

"Her" account was deleted along with Simon Gerrard's. However, they might already have created new accounts under a different name.

"Her" account was deleted along with Simon Gerrard's. However, they might already have created new accounts under a different name.

Oh ye of little faith. Evidence shows that most plagarizers do it simply because they can't conceive of how copyright works, and assume that ANYTHING posted to a FREE site means the work is NOT copyrighted. Once they've been officially spanked, they see the light and back off.

The worst offenders aren't those selling individual books, but fly-by-night websites who try to boost page hits by offering stories and images from other sites. Since they're often run in countries difficult to access legally (or simply relaunch using much the same name), they're more persistent.

In short, it appears that most plagiarism is purely out of ignorance, rather than actual criminal intent. (Like most internet activity, when they see others doing it, they assume it's 'accepted practice'.)

Once they've been officially spanked, they see the light and back off.

I disagree. The plagiarists do it for the money they can make. To them, it is a gravy train and they aren't going to just slink away in shame.

Consider the email Hooriya Ahmed sent to Ernest. She had been officially spanked by Amazon, if you want to consider Amazon not paying her the money they had in her account as being spanked. She had received an amount of money before she was outed, and then she sent Ernest an email asking him to authorize Amazon to release the rest of the money she had earned by selling plagiarized stories. That type of person has no shame and will do it again.

I don't know of a personality profile for a plagiarist. I suspect such a profile would indicate they are basically lazy and willing to commit illegal acts if they believe they can do so without being caught. So far the plagiarists we are aware of have not had to face the legal repercussions of their actions. So how have they been "officially spanked?"

They used to keep the same title, description, and story. In the latest round, the plagiarist created a new title. That made it slightly more difficult to detect the plagiarism. Did the person using Hooriya Ahmed learn a lesson, and did they attempt to hide their actions by changing the story title and posting under a different penname? Possibly they learned another lesson and will write a new description. That will make it even more difficult to detect their actions.

before their account is closed.

Yeah. In that scenario the deceased author will never file a DMCA notice, and their heirs are probably not aware of the plagiarism. End result is the account will never be closed and Amazon and the plagiarist will continue to profit.