Stolen content published in a book

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   SirDentposted 9 years ago

   I recently found one of my poems published in a book that sells on many different sites.  As near as I can tell, the book was published sometime in 2012.  I am kind if at a loss as to what to do.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Frankly, this doesn't surprise me.  In fact, I have been waiting for someone to report something like this.  I think the publisher should stop all sales of the book, and force the author legally to return all of his profits and give them to you.  However, this can only be done if you have proof that the poem is yours and that you registered your copyright for it.  If not, ... you may be up the well known creek without a paddle!  Sorry.

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         flycatcherrrposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Registration of copyright is *not* required, actually, SirDent.   Legal protection of intellectual property comes into effect at the moment of creation in a fixed form (even if that is scribbled on a napkin), per international agreements on copyright. 
         
         Proof of ownership is, however, very helpful.  (In the olden days, we used to send ourselves a copy of a manuscript by registered postal mail (dated, tracked, signed for) and deposit the sealed package with a lawyer or in a bank box.)   Look for a copy of the webpage on which you originally published your work on Archive.org (the Wayback Machine). Their archived copy bears the date of capture and is widely accepted in DMCA complaint actions.

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         psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         A DMCA take down notice only requires that you assert copyright. I have successful served literally hundreds of them without offering proof or registering the copyright.

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      relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Depending on the amount of time and effort and resources you wish to commit, you can:
      1) do nothing.
      2) file a DMCA complaint but since those do not have a single damn thing to do with material published in a book, you should expect that to have zero effect on the situation
      3) learn what it means to defend one's copyrights and file a cease-and-desist request with them and/or the published. 
      4) file the appropriate civil legal paperwork to sue for profiting from your stolen work.  How much this costs or what you recoup may vary.
      5) hire a lawyer to do any parts of #3 or #4

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      peachpurpleposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Did you put copyright under tour nsme for that poem?

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         SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I actually found my poem in an ebook I published 5 years before hers was published.  She only changed the title but kept the rest of my poem.

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   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   The obvious answer is to send the publisher a DMCA.
   
   But less obvious thing may be going on here. Is it credited to your name? Is it from a site you ever posted on?

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      SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      No credits to my name at all.  Just a book published and being sold.  My poem inside.  It is being sold on Amazon and a few other sites.  I did have a chat with Amazon and was told the publisher will be in contact in the next couple of days. 
      
      One thing I am wondering is how many copies were sold and can I do anything about it.

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         alexadryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I am in a similar situation, a website copied my articles from a website I own, put them together and is selling all the info in an e-book being sold in England and Sri Lanka. It looks like they also have affiliates selling it as well. Can't believe people have to courage to do such things! I am filing with Google and the hosting company. They should reimburse us all the money they are making by using our content!

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            SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I understand what you mean.  Much of my content has been copied and published at one time or another.  That is one of the reasons I write very little anymore.  I understand some countries have no copyright laws but the person who used my poem in her book is from the US.

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   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   It does not matter what country the publisher is in, the major ebook distributors and filesharing sites will drop a book the second you file a take down notice under DMCA.

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      SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Great info and advice Psycheskinner.  It isn't available as an ebook but is a paperback only.  The publisher, I just found out, is Lulu.com.

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         Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Well, this is your lucky day, then.  It's rather like winning the lottery.  Lulu Inc. is located in North Carolina and has $$.  All you have to do is register the copyright for your poem here: https://eco.copyright.gov/eService_enu/ … yright.gov
         
         Then, contact this North Carolina firm to represent you: http://www.oliveandolive.com/
         
         Your case is worth $30,000 – $100,000 and you don't have to prove damages.
         
         (Order a copy of the published book before it is taken down.  You'll need this for evidence.)

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            Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            How remarkable - I shall commence writing poetry forthwith.

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            SpaceShantyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I was thinking the same thing!  Time to crack open the champagne!!!

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   mary615posted 9 years ago

   I was so upset when I learned someone had stolen a poem I wrote and included it in her blog.  I filed a DMCA.  It took about three weeks before her blog was taken down.   
   
   I can't imagine having poems stolen and included in a book!!  I hope Amazon will take action on this!

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   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   Lulu is a printing service for self-publishers. They will respond to a take down notice.

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      SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, that much I know.  They should contact me within 48 hours, if not, I will get in touch with them myself.  I can't understand why a writer would do such a thing.  Her reputation could be completely ruined.
      
      EDIT  I did file a copyright claim against the book with Lulu last night.

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         Patty Inglish, MSposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I am sorry this happened to you. You'd never do this to someone else. I hope her books are removed from LuLu.

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         alexadryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Best of luck in sorting this out! Sounds like it shouldn't be much of a hassle since the issue is US-based. I am trying my best to see what can be done with the thieves based in England and Sri Lanka. Keep us posted!

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            SpaceShantyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I'm in the UK, what is the title of the book?

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   SirDentposted 9 years ago

   She has 6 books published and I checked the dates on them.  5 of the 6 were published the same day, Oct. 29, 2012.

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   Thomas Swanposted 9 years ago

   I have reason to think my copyrighted content (and my name) is being used inside a particular book being sold on Amazon, but I don't want to have to buy the book to prove it. I mean, it's a self-published piece of rubbish that probably has zero sales, and I'd rather not make that 1 sale. Still, I wouldn't mind getting it taken down just to teach the guy a lesson. Is there a way to ask for a review of the book by Amazon without me having to buy it? I'd be asking for a review of search terms, such as my name or particular segments of my work.

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      sparksterposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Big names like Amazon take intellectual property rights very seriously. It's worth contacting them directly and explaining your concerns. If you provide your name and an excerpt of your content they may be able to help you. However, you may also need to submit a DMCA complaint to them to get it removed.

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         Thomas Swanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, yea I've contacted them. They'll probably just ask for a quoted section of copied text or a DMCA, which I can't file without seeing it, but worth a try.

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      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If Amazon's CreateSpace is the publisher, then you can sue Amazon.  If Amazon is just selling books published by another publishing house, then you have to go after the publisher.
      
      If you don't have a copy of the book, how will you know/prove your plagiarized work is in there?

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         Thomas Swanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the info. The guy published his infringement on hubpages first, I got it taken down, and he got all angry and said he'd put it in his book. I wish I'd screenshotted his threat back then... but it's reason enough for me to think the book contains copyright infringement and probably a little defamation too.

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            SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            The way I found out my poem is in her book was by doing a Google search on a line in the poem.  The whole poem showed up in Google books.
            
            I filed a DMCA with Lulu.  Their reply was that the format of the DMCA was not right and they could not accept it.  They want a PDF formatted DMCA.  Anyway, I took a snapshot of the page where I found my poem in her book along with the links where they are selling.
            
            
            
            
            I also found the earliest date of my poem which dates back even farther than when it was published here.

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               psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I doubt pdf is the issue although I could be wrong as I have never served them with a notice.  This issue is normally that the notice must contain certain material.  Most crucially an exact description and url of the material, a legally binding assertion of your copyright, and your full legal name address and contact information.

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                  SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  So far I have given them everything they have asked for.  I will see what they do about it now.

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            SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            There is a site called the way back machine that archives webpages.  It is possible you can find the exact page where the guy infringed your copyright.  Might be worth taking a look.
            
            https://archive.org/web/web.php

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      psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If you send a specific complaint to Amazon they will normally check it out, although you sometimes get a first reply that is a bit superficial and then have to persist to get it escalated.

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   sparksterposted 9 years ago

   I have also had a lot of my content plagiarized and have had to submit multiple DMCA complaints over the years. Unfortunately, it seems to be an ongoing thing. It got so bad at one time that I actually paid someone to do most of the leg work for me for a while to get it sorted rapidly and efficiently. DMCA complaints do usually seem to do the trick but not always. Content thieves are always finding new ways to avoid detection. I haven't had any of my material included in books or ebooks as far as I am aware, but that might be something worth looking into.
   
   I have noticed that several websites appear to be offering free downloads of my ebook, which is available for sale on Lulu. However, upon visiting those sites it seems that the ebook is actually not available to download anyway. I think it may just be scammers and spammers using the title to try to generate traffic.

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      alexadryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      And who knows how many eBooks/books have stolen content and the authors can't figure it out because they must pay to see the content. I figured it out only by chance. I googled the first sentences of my article and a pdf file showed up with all my articles there under the form of an eBook and then at the bottom there was a link to a website that was selling it. I then did a web search using the title and found several more websites selling it as affiliates. I got lucky I was able to see this free version.

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         psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         If it is an ebook on Amazon it is quite easy because of their 10% sample system.  In my genre people work together to report suspicious bulk book posters and run plagiarism checks on them.
         
         As an ebook author my stuff is pretty rampantly plagiarized and fileshared so I use a service to send automated takedown notices, its called MUSO TNT. For a one month membership you can knock down over a hundred listings.

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   SirDentposted 9 years ago

   The content has been taken down.  Will wait and see what she does or says about it.

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      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Congratulations!  That was worth the effort.

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         SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you and, yes, it was.  They said in the email that if she makes a counter claim, they will let me know.

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            Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            My guess is that she won't make a counter-claim.  It can get really expensive for plagiarists if they do that.  (By DMCA law, the accused must be given 48 hours to make a counter claim.)

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               SirDentposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I didn't know they only have 48 hours.  Thanks for the info.  I doubt she will make a counter claim also.  I am wondering now how many more poems are stolen from others in her books.

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