This is for all the authors on this site! Just to let you know that there is a new auth o on Amazon - Belinda Jacobs - and she is publishing stories that were not written by her (??)! So far, I have found stories written by Longhorn_07, rltj, and others published by her on Amazon! My negative reviews are not being published. This is wrong on so many different dimensions!
Yes indeed.
Quick look also spotted Bluedragon's A Billionaire's Life is copied and renamed amazingly enough "Billionaire's Life."
She even calls herself a USA Today bestselling author!
There was nothing relating to me in this message. But isn't there something you can do to stop her?
Belinda Jacobs
There is a 50% chance that that person is female, actually it is probably less than 50%. I think we can safely assume that the name is a fake.
we can safely assume that the name is a fake.
There is an actual author who uses Belinda Jacobs as her penname. However she doesn't write erotica.
There is an actual author who uses Belinda Jacobs as her penname. However she doesn't write erotica.
So it has gone so far that they now even rip off other authors pen names. Maybe the 'real' Belinda Jacobs can achieve a little more at amazon.
The author's being ripped off can send DMCA take down notices to Amazon. Enough of them and they will kill the account posting the stories.
Beyond that, there isn't much even Amazon can do short of completely shutting down their self publishing service.
The author's being ripped off can send DMCA take down notices to Amazon. Enough of them and they will kill the account posting the stories.
And to do this, I believe you need an Amazon account and have to identify yourself (i.e. your legal information). Some authors may not want to do that.
And to do this, I believe you need an Amazon account and have to identify yourself.
Not really.
To do so on line you need an Amazon account.
However, there are other ways to do it.
Yes, notice by any means requires identifying yourself, but that is a requirement of the DMCA, not something Amazon is tacking on.
https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/submit-dmca-notice/
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is the United States law against circumvention of copyright protection. It includes provisions against both the distribution of copyright-protected material and circumventing copyright protection.
If you believe that AWS resources are being used to host or distribute copyrighted material that you own the copyright for:
Gather the documentation described at Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement.
Send the information to ec2-abuse@amazon.com or abuse@amazonaws.com.
If EC2 resources are being used to host or distribute your copyrighted content, you can also contact ec2-abuse@amazon.com.
Note: The AWS Abuse team will not open attachments under any circumstance. You must provide any necessary information in plaintext.
If you provide your notice in the body of an email and send it to ec2-abuse@amazon.com or abuse@amazonaws.com, you don't need to provide a physical signature.
Or, you could always hire a lawyer and have them mail Amazon the take down notice on actual paper.
Not really.
Yes, really, for any meaningful understanding of what I wrote. Sure, you can hire a lawyer or use an agent (perhaps for free, as Ernest has done). But someone has to provide actual information.
But someone has to provide actual information.
The 'not really' seems to refer to requiring an Amazon account. Lawyers don't need one to issue a DMCA to Amazon
And to do this, I believe you need an Amazon account and have to identify yourself (i.e. your legal information). Some authors may not want to do that.
I handle that by having my son, who has an Amazon account, send a DMCA on my behalf with a note he has my authority to act, which we once had to back up with an email from me for the first time he did that, but not since. The perps account eventually got closed that time, and the next one, so sending the DMCA does get noticed by them.
The perps account eventually got closed that time, and the next one, so sending the DMCA does get noticed by them.
It generally takes a couple of weeks, as the DMCA has to 'get around' to processing the paperwork, then send the notice, then wait for the offender to file an appeal, etc., and that's assuming they simply slink away in disgrace, rather than fighting the take-down notice, or more commonly, simply changing their name and continuing anyway.
This author and all 13 of the books showing on Amazon are also listed on GoodReads with reviews over a month old. Some things really need criminal charges after a while.
Not that I'm offering, but how about an Amazon Hall of Shame, listing all the Amazon 'authors' who have stolen from SOL?
As well as providing a checklist for SOL authors to scan for theft, publicising the list might bring moral pressure on Amazon to improve its practices.
AJ
Not that I'm offering, but how about an Amazon Hall of Shame, listing all the Amazon 'authors' who have stolen from SOL?
I'm not sure something like that would work. It's not only amazon but also other offending sites and the 'authors' just change names as soon as they are found out. The result would be an endless list where only the most recently added names might be useful to check upon.
What would work better is that every author creates a script that does searches for key sentences in his stories and alarms if a found hit is not one of the sites where he/she has posted them. Run the script once a week or month and you know where you stand.
ETA: maybe something like this: PHP Google Search Crawler
What would work better is that every author creates a script that does searches for key sentences in his stories
How would that work on Amazon? The script wouldn't be able to read the story. I don't even think it would get at SOL stories.
How would that work on Amazon? The script wouldn't be able to read the story. I don't even think it would get at SOL stories.
You're right, it wouldn't work on amazon, but it would work on other sites.
bring moral pressure on Amazon to improve its practices.
What can Amazon do? How do they know the "author" doesn't own the copyright?
When a plagiarist creates an account on Amazon, they need to provide banking information. Amazon could use the information provided by previously identified plagiarists to prevent those people from entering into any new agreements with Amazon.
Of course that would require more time and money than Amazon wants to expend.
When a plagiarist creates an account on Amazon, they need to provide banking information
I think only if you have Amazon do a direct deposit. Otherwise they mail a check out. And, I believe, for non-U.S. authors, there is no direct deposit option.
Of course that would require more time and money than Amazon wants to expend.
It also presumes that the bank accounts aren't in a country where it's simple to create anonymous bank accounts or a country with heavy duty privacy protection where a non-governmental third party can't get any identifying information from the bank.
What can Amazon do? How do they know the "author" doesn't own the copyright?
Universities use anti-plagiarism software. I don't know how it works but allegedly it's reasonably effective. It shouldn't be too hard to adapt it to do internet searches related to e-books that 'new authors' are uploading.
AJ
Universities use anti-plagiarism software. I don't know how it works but allegedly it's reasonably effective. It shouldn't be too hard to adapt it to do internet searches related to e-books that 'new authors' are uploading.
On the face of it a good idea, but with one minor caveat. A number of authors put a story up on a free site - here or beyondthefarhorizon for example - and then subsequently sell the story on Amazon. I'm pretty sure the BtFH site owner has done that and "Devon Layne" is another probable candidate. You see the problem.
A number of authors put a story up on a free site … and then subsequently sell the story on Amazon.
And, in my case, using a different pen name (Switch Blayde vs S.W. Blayde).
Ignoring the ins and outs of Amazon's exclusivity requirements (since I don't know what, if any, they are), finding a copy of a new author's e-book elsewhere could be handled by freezing the e-book until the author has provided a satisfactory explanation.
Amazon must have criteria by which they judge whether the submitters of DMCA notices are genuine, so checking someone with multiple pen names should be doable to the same standards.
AJ
It shouldn't be too hard to adapt it to do internet searches related to e-books that 'new authors' are uploading.
I think you're asking a lot from them. And I don't think that software would find anything on SOL since the stories are stored in databases and not available to all.
Why not make copyright theft illegal? Yeah, that'll never happen. And even if it did, good luck prosecuting someone in Russia or China.
Why not make copyright theft illegal? Yeah, that'll never happen.
Actually, criminal prosecution for copyright infringement is a real thing in the US.
However, it needs more than just basic infringement to qualify for criminal prosecution .
https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/copyright/criminal-copyright-infringement/
Copyright infringers can be sued civilly and in some cases prosecuted criminally for the same infringing act. The civil statute of limitations is three years, but there is a five-year statute of limitations for a federal prosecutor to bring a criminal case against an infringer. In order to bring a felony copyright infringement suit, the copyright must be registered. The prosecutor will have to show that the defendant willfully infringed for commercial advantage or financial gain by reproducing or distributing one or more copies or phonorecords of one or more copyrighted works with a total retail value of more than $1,000 during a 180-day period, or by distributing a work that was being prepared for commercial distribution by making it publicly accessible on a computer network, even though the defendant knew it was intended for commercial distribution.
or by distributing a work that was being prepared for commercial distribution
That is where most SOL/Lit/Asstr posters come out on the short end. The plagarists can just claim to be making a non-commercial property commercial and offer to pay a percentage.
That it is a percentage of what they will prove to be nothing is immaterial.
God's. I HATE thieves.
That is where most SOL/Lit/Asstr posters come out on the short end.
No, what you quoted starts with or, not and. Where most SOL/lit/ASSTR authors fall short is in not registering their copyrights. If the works being stolen were registered and the infringer was pulling in $1000 (full retail) in around 6 months, it would qualify for criminal prosecution without the intent of commercial distribution on the part of the true owner.
Just checked Amazon.... no one has ripped off any of my stories. I'm not sure whether I should be pleased, or insulted....
Just checked Amazon.... no one has ripped off any of my stories
How would you know? I didn't until someone notified me. The author changed the title.
I have had this issue several times now.
And the most annoying thing is that they (and other online publishers) will remove the story taken from me, yet still let them sell stories from other authors.
I believe that the punishment should be severe. Killing the account and freezing all money collected. But so long as they only take them at a single story basis, this theft will continue.