Have You Noticed Copyright Infringement at Major Websites? Our Books Are Being Used Illegitimately
I thought I was about to have a nice lunch with my husband just now, but it was not to be. As I've mentioned before, he is an expert on various aspects of natural construction, and he has a number of books he's written up on our websites and on major places. Most of them are self-published.
This morning, he was doing his annual online search of new books that relate to sustainable architecture. He was horrified to discover seven books on Amazon that are copied from his authoritative and self-published book called Earthbag Architecture.
Some of the seven books completely copied the words and images of his book. Other books had been run through software that changed phrasing so it didn't make sense. For example, he saw the expression "earthbaggage architecture."
Each of the books has a different title. cover, and author name. They are being offered as both kindles and paperbacks, and at very low prices.
We talked about what to do. He found a form on Amazon that is meant to be used to report copyright infringement, and he's working on that. I am hoping that someone here at WA knows more.
Have any of you run into this kind of problem online?
UPDATE: AMAZON REPLIED QUICKLY TO MY HUSBAND, AND THE BAD BOOKS ARE BEING REMOVED!
Recent Comments
9
I believe there is a lot of that going on Rosanna.
If you are able to use AI to spin articles, why not books?
I hope he gets it sorted.
Michael.
Sorry to hear this Rosana.
I don't have anything to add, except I hope that you get it sorted quickly.
Gail
Rosana,
I belong to Kindlepreneur, and this is an excerpt from them on this sort of thing:
One example is an Amazon FBA book scam:
Some authors are reporting illegitimate copies of their book being sold as if they were from the author, even though they’re not.
Basically, the scammers are following this process:
Steal/copy an author’s book
Print their own version (usually with very poor quality)
Change a few minor details so Amazon has trouble flagging it (like changing a single letter in the author’s name)
Sell that version through Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) for cheaper than the author charges
Sometimes these illegitimate copies actually get attached to the legitimate book, or are sold in the “New or Used copies” section.
I think there is more to read about it fromthem, but this sounds like what is happening to your husband!
Jeff
I have not had any issues as such, yet, he is doing the right thing by contacting Amazon and filing paperwork.
How unfortunate, Rosana, that this occurred. Hopefully, this will get resolved quickly!
Rudy
I am not surprised. I know Valerie had her website content copied and had to fight to get that content from another site removed. That is all I know. Your husband is doing the right thing to file the forms and provide prove it was an illegal copyright infringement. Amazon should take care of it and remove the book from being sold.
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I'm sorry to learn about what has happened with some of the books created by your husband, Rosanna.
I know how it feels for your husband and for you to discover that his hard work has been stolen.
I was browsing YouTube one day and was shocked to find that a post on one of my websites had been copied word for word and had become a YouTube video. The creator of that video was using my content to promote his business.
I created that post about an experience with my dog, with the intention of raising awareness among dog owners, but not to be stolen!
With Brenda's helpful advice, I contacted YouTube management, and the offender was given a timeframe to delete his video or an alternative!! He chose to delete the video.
Also, I checked for plagiarism of some other posts on that site only to find that about seventy per cent of the Home Page had been plagiarised!
After my experience with that website and looking at the analytics on another of my sites which has had no attention from me for the past two years, I feel sure that the content on that site has also been copied.
I do hope that your husband receives some helpful responses from Amazon.
Valerie
Thank you very much for spelling out your experiences, Valerie!
You're very welcome, Rosanna.
Thank you!