Copyright infringement

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tomtoms
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Copyright infringement

Post by tomtoms »

I just found out someone has scanned my art work and is selling it on a file sharing site. I have warned her via email but it has not stop her, as she continues to profit from my hard work.
I prefer not to hire an attroney because of the legal cost. I feel helpless. The government will track someone down for a traffic violation but it does not offer much help when it comes to copyright infringement. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
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8foot7
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by 8foot7 »

I've spent close to two decades in book publishing. You can't stop this stuff.

Contact the file sharing site and issue a "DMCA takedown" notice and then see if they will give up her IP address. Then contact her ISP if they do and do the same thing. You can try the nursing board, but we never took it that far. That's about all you can do.

We used to say in publishing that anyone who downloads books for free wouldn't have paid for them in the first place, and we had a lot of evidence that otherwise honest people who downloaded an illegal copy and liked the book would then buy a copy from us.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Find a lawyer who will take this on for a percentage recovered. He may well tell you to wait until the amount of profit by the offending party reaches a level where it's worthwhile to go after them. The lawyer can also handle any correspondence with the offending party to retain your rights. It is certainly helpful to find and document where the work was made available by this party and let the lawyer know this.

I don't think this is a DIY.
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nisiprius
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by nisiprius »

I think one answer is to shrug it off and accept the leakage, unless your book is a big commercial success and we are really talking about big enough money that you can easily afford a lawyer's, let's say the equivalent of two weeks' full-time work at 40 hours/week, $400/hour = $32,000 in fees.

As 8foot7 notes (and as studies have shown with respect to music and movie piracy) there's essentially no evidence that the "pirates" would have bought and paid for your book if they had not been able to get it for free. The estimates that the content providers make of the billions of dollars "lost" to piracy are grotesque exaggerations and wishful thinking.

Stuff happens.

A friend of mine who self-published a pretty good book... she signed on with a sort of vanity-press operation, paid something like $10,000 out-of-pocket, and did the thing full-bore (did tours and went to book fairs and gave away hundreds and hundreds of review copies) actually did make money on the deal, but she was pretty upset when she discovered that most of the "review copies" were being resold online, e.g. through used-book sites like abebooks. She said it was pretty clear what was going on--at book fairs, there were some people who were simply walking around from table to table grabbing "review copies" and putting them in their plastic bag without even stopping to talk about the books.
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livesoft
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by livesoft »

Reselling books is a good business for homemakers. Simply buy used at those library sales, garage sales, and from students at colleges. Then put them online with a mark-up.

I am curious about the "review books". Do authors expect them to be returned to them? I would think the normal progression would be to resell them.

Of course, scanning and reselling when a copyright is in place is illegal.
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8foot7
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by 8foot7 »

livesoft wrote:Reselling books is a good business for homemakers. Simply buy used at those library sales, garage sales, and from students at colleges. Then put them online with a mark-up.

I am curious about the "review books". Do authors expect them to be returned to them? I would think the normal progression would be to resell them.
We sent review copies out all the time on a not-for-resale basis--we typically tore out the title page and cut off the UPC code. Software companies send media and reviewers NFR copies of their software all the time. The expectation is that free things will not be resold, but I don't think anyone who's been in the industry longer than a few months is naive enough to believe those things don't go straight to eBay or Amazon.
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8foot7
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by 8foot7 »

(When people asked me what to do with review stuff, I always advised a donation to a school, library, or other non-profit.)
mouses
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by mouses »

I would complain to the nursing board with a cc to her. Also a letter to her employer with a cc to her. I don't know if it will do any good, but worth a try, and it will at least cause her some embarrassment, if she's capable of being embarrassed.

I would go the IPS route also. I have no idea if it works nowadays, but decades ago I managed to get a person's account pulled because he was sending me threats. Of course now, they'll just go elsewhere since there are so many IPSs. But losing an email addresses is inconvenient.

I'm sorry this happened to you. I saw posts stolen from two blogs I read. At least one of the writers managed to get the webhost to take down the thief's blog, but it took persistence.

I thought review copies sent to genuine reviewers were expected to be resold. If these are basically free books sitting around for anyone to take, that's like leaving a door unlocked.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by YttriumNitrate »

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SimonJester
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by SimonJester »

8foot7 wrote: Contact the file sharing site and issue a "DMCA takedown" notice and then see if they will give up her IP address. Then contact her ISP if they do and do the same thing.
This is the proper route to go.

You could contact the board of nursing but they may or may not get involved. Their job is to protect the public over medical issues regarding nurses. Many have a board of nursing moral turpitude clause that may or may not come into play over something like this.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by KyleAAA »

Submit a DMCA takedown request to the file sharing site. Most will honor it. This doesn't stop her from uploading it somewhere else, of course, and you'd have to do it all over again. The alternative is to pay a lawyer to draft a nastygram on your behalf. It might be worth spending a few hundred dollars if it scares her into submission. I'd probably use the nursing board complaint as a last resort.

What was her response via email? Does it lead you to believe she'd respond to a legal threat or that she would go through the trouble of continually finding new file sharing sites to upload to?

I don't think the pirate analogy above is relevant because, according to OP, people ARE paying for this book. They're just paying this nurse and not the copyright owner. I'm sure they're paying less, but this is a slightly different situation.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by nisiprius »

KyleAAA wrote:SI don't think the pirate analogy above is relevant because, according to OP, people ARE paying for this book. They're just paying this nurse and not the copyright owner. I'm sure they're paying less, but this is a slightly different situation.
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telemark
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by telemark »

In addition to the DMCA takedown, if you have a web site of your own you should put up a statement that this person is not authorized to sell your book. Ideally anyone searching for your book would be directed to your site first.
CFM300
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by CFM300 »

tomtoms wrote:I just found out someone has scanned my book and is selling it on a file sharing site. I have warned her via email but it has not stop her, as she continues to profit from my hard work.
What do you mean, she's selling it on a file-sharing site? How is payment being collected and processed? That's who you should write. PayPal, the owner of the for-profit file-sharing site, etc.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by Bfwolf »

SimonJester wrote:
8foot7 wrote: Contact the file sharing site and issue a "DMCA takedown" notice and then see if they will give up her IP address. Then contact her ISP if they do and do the same thing.
This is the proper route to go.

You could contact the board of nursing but they may or may not get involved. Their job is to protect the public over medical issues regarding nurses. Many have a board of nursing moral turpitude clause that may or may not come into play over something like this.
I would definitely go to the nursing board as well and CC her. If nothing else, it may scare her into submission.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by PVW »

If you want to frighten her into submission, notifying (or threatening to) the nursing board might work. Especially if the nurse is illegally offering your book as part of a private enterprise that is somewhat related to her job. Another tactic might be to threaten to report the illegal income to the IRS. There is always the chance (s)he reported the income as legitimate, but nobody wants to lock horns with the IRS (especially over illegal income).
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celia
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by celia »

OP, One of the advantages of having a publisher is that they would stand up for you (and them) in a case like this. I assume you self-published.
8foot7 wrote:(When people asked me what to do with review stuff, I always advised a donation to a school, library, or other non-profit.)
I find review copies for sale at library book sales for a dollar or two. They often don't want them for their collection. I found this out recently when talking to a local head librarian about books that I wanted to buy and donate to them. Due to limited shelf space, if it doesn't meet their criteria for accession, they will just give it to the book sale. The librarian suggested I give her a list of the titles I was thinking of giving and she would run it past the accession department first to see if the books would be kept for the library. That way I wouldn't be stuck paying for books they would be basically giving away.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by livesoft »

I am wondering if because you only sent an e-mail to her whether that was sufficient? How about one of the proverbial certified, return receipt, registered or other kind of letter? It seems like a nice cease-and-desist letter with the demand that all her sales records, customer names & addresses, and profits be disclosed to you would not be in bad form.

Would a nice summons to small-claims court get someone's attention?
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by Toons »

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N1CKV
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by N1CKV »

mouses wrote:I would complain to the nursing board with a cc to her. Also a letter to her employer with a cc to her. I don't know if it will do any good, but worth a try, and it will at least cause her some embarrassment, if she's capable of being embarrassed.
That sounds like a quick way to get sued for harassment and possibly defamation if you make a slight mistake in your claim.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by lawman3966 »

The only meaningful advice anyone here can give you is to contact an attorney with some experience in this area. If you type "copyright attorney -insert your city- " into Google, you should obtain several options quickly.

It's simply wrong to say that one can't enforce Copyright law in this country. I haven't read much about copyright violations regarding books, but enforcement of music copyrights, for example, is fierce. There are coffee shops among other small establishments that have had to pay substantial royalties or risk expensive lawsuits for having had musicians play copyrighted music. The copyright owners have accepted modest civil remedies for people who've illegally downloaded music, just to listen though, not to make money. However, I am under the impression that criminal penalties may apply to people who knowingly violate a copyright for profit.

I won't offer any more detailed information than this, as I'm not an attorney in this field (perhaps others here are). However, for a modest fee, an attorney in your area should be able to provide you with a reasonable, initial summary of the options available to you.

I assisted on some related matters, namely a Trademark violation. The attorney I worked with sent someone a letter ordering him to change the name of some restaurants in the U.S. and overseas. The restaurant owner responded quickly, indicating that he would change the name of his U.S. restaurants but would not do so for his overseas locations. This occurred without a trial or much follow up. In all likelihood, the other party was told by his own attorney that he didn't have a leg to stand on, and complied with the request without delay.

Lawyer's letters have a way of placing fear of the almighty into people that an email from an author doesn't.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by Fallible »

tomtoms wrote:I just found out someone has scanned my book and is selling it on a file sharing site. I have warned her via email but it has not stop her, as she continues to profit from my hard work.

What other options do I have? I prefer not to hire an attroney because of the legal cost. ...
I would contact a copyright attorney (could be part of an intellectual property firm) and ask for a free consultation. Can't hurt to ask and if it's not free, maybe an initial consultation just to explain your rights and options would be affordable.

The best time to learn copyright laws is well before you publish, but as you're learning here, it may only soften the infringement blows.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by lawman3966 »

tomtoms wrote: What other options do I have? I prefer not to hire an attroney because of the legal cost.
This is the wrong approach, IMHO. You will lose much more through inaction than by hiring an attorney.
tomtoms wrote: The government will track someone down for a traffic violation but it does not offer much help when it comes to copyright infringement. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
I didn't respond to this in my earlier post above. It's simply not true that the govt doesn't help in connection with copyright infringement. Protection of copyrights and other forms of IP occurs every day, and the penalties can be severe, particularly if the infringement is conducted for profit rather than just for personal use/entertainment.

In a nutshell, you will only resolve this by speaking to an attorney. You should be able to get an initial consultation either free or at a reasonable cost. I practiced law in a different field of Intellectual Property, and I participated in free consultations for new clients on several occasions.
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telemark
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by telemark »

For more information on DMCA takedown notices, see http://www.sfwa.org/2013/03/the-dmca-ta ... mystified/ or just search on DMCA takedown. The process is quite simple and ISPs generally comply promptly, for fear of becoming liable themselves.

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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by freebeer »

tomtoms wrote:I just found out someone has scanned my book and is selling it on a file sharing site. I have warned her via email but it has not stop her, as she continues to profit from my hard work.

What other options do I have? I prefer not to hire an attroney because of the legal cost. She is a nurse. Do you think filing a complaint with the state's nursing board would make a difference? I know this is not a medical related issue but it is about character and ethics.

I feel helpless. The government will track someone down for a traffic violation but it does not offer much help when it comes to copyright infringement. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Do you have a publisher? They should be stepping in here.

If self-published, are you also selling your book aggressively as an e-book? Not just a print-replica PDF but epub (mobi on Amazon)? If you aren't making your own digital editions available, you shouldn't be surprised someone is selling them. J.K. Rowling used to say there would never be Harry Potter e-books, until pirates started distributing them the same day her physical books started selling... then she changed her tune and started Pottermore. If you are widely distributing e-books, then my guess is the scanned sales will be an annoyance not a major loss of revenue. If you aren't then you are making a mistake (speaking as someone "in the business...").
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by CashBalance »

8foot7 wrote:I've spent close to two decades in book publishing. You can't stop this stuff.

Contact the file sharing site and issue a "DMCA takedown" notice and then see if they will give up her IP address. Then contact her ISP if they do and do the same thing. You can try the nursing board, but we never took it that far. That's about all you can do.

We used to say in publishing that anyone who downloads books for free wouldn't have paid for them in the first place, and we had a lot of evidence that otherwise honest people who downloaded an illegal copy and liked the book would then buy a copy from us.
8foot7 is offering excellent advice.

I've written 6 books, which have been translated into more than 20 languages, and have been on the NY Times, WSJ, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly bestseller lists. My entire business is based on intellectual property and a day doesn't go by that my attorney isn't sending out cease and desist letters. Unfortunately, copyright infringement is a cost of doing business and the internet has made it very difficult to police.

In fact, with a few clicks, you could find a way to illegally download free copies of all of my books. But, most people don't. Most people go to Amazon or B&N and buy a copy. Then, hopefully, they share that copy with friends - for free - which is great. If I pick up another fan as a result, that new fan tells someone else about the book and/or buys one of my other books. Remember the Faberge shampoo commercial from the 80's? "And they'll tell two friends and so on...and so on..."

When I was a new author and someone infringed on my copyrights it was upsetting and made me worried. Now, I know, as I mentioned above, it's just a cost of doing business. I also know that you're no one in book writing until people are stealing your ideas and copying your content. So, OP, you've arrived. Congratulations.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by LiveSimple »

livesoft wrote:Would a nice summons to small-claims court get someone's attention?
Did the OP, state the location of the nurse / IP ?

What if the IP address is from a third world country ?
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by furnace »

CashBalance wrote: 8foot7 is offering excellent advice.

I've written 6 books, which have been translated into more than 20 languages, and have been on the NY Times, WSJ, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly bestseller lists. My entire business is based on intellectual property and a day doesn't go by that my attorney isn't sending out cease and desist letters. Unfortunately, copyright infringement is a cost of doing business and the internet has made it very difficult to police.

In fact, with a few clicks, you could find a way to illegally download free copies of all of my books. But, most people don't. Most people go to Amazon or B&N and buy a copy. Then, hopefully, they share that copy with friends - for free - which is great. If I pick up another fan as a result, that new fan tells someone else about the book and/or buys one of my other books. Remember the Faberge shampoo commercial from the 80's? "And they'll tell two friends and so on...and so on..."

When I was a new author and someone infringed on my copyrights it was upsetting and made me worried. Now, I know, as I mentioned above, it's just a cost of doing business. I also know that you're no one in book writing until people are stealing your ideas and copying your content. So, OP, you've arrived. Congratulations.
Many people nowadays don't even bother to read a book any more. The fact that there is an underground audience for your book should give you some measure of satisfaction. By the way, what is stopping you from scanning your own book and selling it on the same site as this infringer for a penny less?
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by simple man »

DMCA is the way to go. If you complain to nursing board and there are not good grounds that this is a violation of their code and she gets sanctioned or loses her job, you could easily get sued for defamation. There a probably a number of lawyers that would take this - and you would have to invoke your homeowners insurance (which would hopefully pay for a defense lawyer, but may not since it would deemed an intentional act).
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by CABob »

I just found out someone has scanned my book and is selling it on a file sharing site.
I recall speaking with an author of technical publications for sale "back in the day" who indicated that his biggest competitor was the Xerox copy machine. I guess the scanner and the internet have taken over that process.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by Atgard »

There's really no way to give good advice unless we know some idea of how well the book is selling. If you're selling a few copies here and there, piracy is not your problem -- it's obscurity. Piracy is only a problem for the very largest authors & publishers, and then it's worth hiring a lawyer to handle it.

Of course on a moral level it's frustrating for someone to steal your hard work and post it. But if they are really making any money from it (selling on Amazon, etc.), there are ways to stop them with the distributor. If they threw up a web site with stolen books, they are probably only getting a handful of sales or downloads, not enough to concern yourself with.

For the record, I'm an I.P. attorney and mildly-successful (15,000+ copies sold) self-published author. I learned to just ignore when my book showed up on some file-sharing site. As far as I could tell, it never had any impact on my sales.
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Re: Book copyright infringement: how to stop someone?

Post by Rusa »

I used to practice as an IP attorney. You've received good advice. Don't forget to actually register your copyright in your book so that in the future you can threaten an infringer with statutory damages (actual damages are usually just too small to bother with in most of these circumstances). And yes, cease-and-desist letters from attorneys on law firm letterhead do usually have a better stopping effect than emails from authors. So it might be worth investing a few hundred or a few thousand dollars that way. Good luck.
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