Warning to Authors

[Stimtheone]

Oh, this is the second time that youtube channel got named in the threads. I thought it was the usual kind where people copy your stories to make them into Amazon e-books.

 

[NoTalentHack]

That's why I suggested reporting it to YouTube rather than a formal copyright claim in a court. It's more likely to result in getting the story removed, although as you say, even if the channel is shut down, it will probably only be started up again with a different account.

It's amazing to me that people with the time and intelligence to post blatantly copied content on YouTube don't put their talents to better use. It's hard for me to believe that anyone could take pride in copying someone else's work.

It’s a trivially easy process with nearly guaranteed monetary returns. I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often.

 

[Ada Stuart]

I was alerted that someone has stolen one of my stories. It was "Cuckold's Anonymous".

I was not even given credit for being the author, not in the body of the audio anyway. A few sentences and words were changed but 99.9% of my story is intact. My only acknowledgement was; Taken as a motif and based on:Cuckolds Anonymous © Gamblnluck. This was written at the end the description.

This guy is copying stories changing a few words and using a really poor AI voice to make his audio files so he can make money.

I might not be so angry if he'd 1. asked permission first 2. Given me full credit in the body of the audio, like a book on tape does. and 3. not done such a crappy job of the whole thing.

Some of you might want to take a look to see if your content or that of author's you know has been also stolen. I have not looked through any of his other stories and will be out of the country (no internet) for the next few weeks.
This is the link to the file using my story:

If that does not work try:Cheating Wife Stories, I Took Revenge On Both My Boss And My Wife, Reddit Stories, Audio Stories

You're lucky it's on YouTube. Then react really quick after you send them a copyright claim. And they actually remove the video too.

But, you might also consider it free advertising since your name is actually mentioned in the description and I would assume that makes it pop out in Google searches.

I had a story turned into an audiobook on YouTube, and I got so angry that I filed a complaint straight away. A few hours later, YouTube had removed it. Later, I realised that it was actually perfect advertising for my book, so next time, I'll sleep on it before going ballistic

 

[u1u1u1]

If you can't go to court, which you can't in the United States unless you hold a formally acquired copyright, you are just bluffing. There are no teeth in not holding a formal copyright in the United States. (This was done on purpose to keep the courts from being swamped with lawsuits).

As I said, it's obtain a formal copyright in the United States, or you are operating on bluff. Nice if the bluff works, though.

Yours is a "feel good" misconception that was established when the United States signed the Berne Convention (a hundred years late) but then took the teeth out of the "copyright upon creation" automatically concept. The United States is good with you having that "feel good" misconception and finding out that it is a misconception only when you try to take your case to court, the only place you could get actual redress short of a bluff working.

I'm really tired of this coming up again and again and again at Literotica. When you post a story at Literotica without holding a formal copyright, you are making it susceptible to being swiped and reposted away from Literotica. And even if you held a formal copyright and took it to court, you valued your story at zero dollars because you posted it for free access on Literotica. Save yourself grief and post at Literotica with the view that you are good with making your stories accessible for free.

As this is YouTube we're talking about, a work does not need to be registered for them to respect a DMCA takedown notice. That's all the "teeth" any small-time holder is going to need. I think it's a bit silly to pretend that the only worthwhile way of enforcing copyright is through the US court system.

And of course, in the unlikely event that someone does need to go to court, they can always choose to register their copyright at that juncture.

 

[XerXesXu]

As this is YouTube we're talking about, a work does not need to be registered for them to respect a DMCA takedown notice. That's all the "teeth" any small-time holder is going to need. I think it's a bit silly to pretend that the only worthwhile way of enforcing copyright is through the US court system.

And of course, in the unlikely event that someone does need to go to court, they can always choose to register their copyright at that juncture.

YouTube is, legally, in the same position as Lit. It has 'Good Samaritan' immunity and can take down anything it likes leaving the publisher no recourse. I've never seen YouTube indicate that it takes advantage of this immunity in any circumstances where a publisher is unwilling to forgo his cloak of immunity and evidence his claim to copyright. Why should it create an arbitration system parallel to the one set up by law to arbitrate such disputes?

 

[Gamblnluck]

It’s a trivially easy process with nearly guaranteed monetary returns. I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often.

I need to check out what kind of stories are allowed vs what is not then.. I can read my own stories if I can get paid good money for them.

 

[Gamblnluck]

You're lucky it's on YouTube. Then react really quick after you send them a copyright claim. And they actually remove the video too.

But, you might also consider it free advertising since your name is actually mentioned in the description and I would assume that makes it pop out in Google searches.

I had a story turned into an audiobook on YouTube, and I got so angry that I filed a complaint straight away. A few hours later, YouTube had removed it. Later, I realised that it was actually perfect advertising for my book, so next time, I'll sleep on it before going ballistic

My thing is he is the one making money for my efforts, not me.

 

[KeithD]

My thing is he is the one making money for my efforts, not me.

Yes (although not much), but, unfortunately, you set it up so that he could do that.

 

[Ada Stuart]

My thing is he is the one making money for my efforts, not me.

Yes, unfortunately, that's how it is. Putting stories on Lit is actually just a sign saying: "Please, steal my story."

I've had stories stolen from Lit and put up for sale on Amazon. And I've filed tons of copyright complaints when/if I spot them. I tried to publish one of those stories on Amazon, and the reply was: "No, we need to ask the thief before you can do that." It came as no surprise when he didn't answer.

So, if your stories are good enough to be stolen, why not publish them yourself? That is the only way to put the money where it belongs. And, it's not difficult to self-publish.

And if you want to make audiobooks, just publish your ebook on Google Play and use their free AI tool and it will be created automatically. Depending on the story length, it will take you about an hour and then you can start selling it. I've never tried the same on YouTube, but based on what I've heard, the income from YouTube is much less compared to what it used to be.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

How would one even read erotica on youtube, with their bullshit rules?

 

[BobbyLaker]

And if you want to make audiobooks, just publish your ebook on Google Play and use their free AI tool and it will be created automatically.

@Ada Stuart Out of interest, what's the narration quality like?

 

[NoTalentHack]

How would one even read erotica on youtube, with their bullshit rules?

You don't; that's why they poach mostly from Loving Wives. In the marital drama stories, the sex is often an afterthought, so it's easy to edit it out in many cases.

 

[madelinemasoch]

I have a feeling at least half the internet is fake. It's all bots spawned in bot farms and dead links and dead accounts and dead air and recycled data that goes nowhere... AI has spawned to contribute to this. I don't really consider this "stealing", it's just where the internet is trending right now. I don't need some kind of analogy, I'm just saying this seems like a relatively innocuous thing to me.

 

[Ada Stuart]

@Ada Stuart Out of interest, what's the narration quality like?

The quality is really good. It's still only a beta version but it has already improved a lot since I first tried it. Now it almost sounds like a real person reading your book - particularly since you can change the pacing and the pronunciation of the words. Still, since it's a beta, it's also free, but it probably won't be long before they start charging for it. You can also download the audio files and sell your audiobook on other sites like Streetlib, so there are endless opportunities out there right now.

That said, 1/5 of all my sales on Google are audiobooks so I've started making audiobooks of all my new titles.

I also use the Speech functionality in Scrivener, and it often makes me cringe in comparison to what Google has accomplished.

 

[onehitwanda]

I have a feeling at least half the internet is fake. It's all bots spawned in bot farms and dead links and dead accounts and dead air and recycled data that goes nowhere... AI has spawned to contribute to this. I don't really consider this "stealing", it's just where the internet is trending right now. I don't need some kind of analogy, I'm just saying this seems like a relatively innocuous thing to me.

There was a study done recently that indicated that 57% of the content on the internet has been translated, badly, to other languages - primarily by ML bots, and primarily to drive SEO.

Anecdotally - in the last two years I've gone from being able to reliably find the answer to a search term on the front page of google's results to not even bothering because I know it's just SEO spam.

A few days ago I was searching for a "hot goth girl" for the happiness thread... the first 300 images or more in multiple searches were AI-generated.

Neal Stephenson and others predicted this - rampant noise drowning out any signal.

 

[FifthEstate]

I was alerted that someone has stolen one of my stories. It was "Cuckold's Anonymous".

This is an amazing coincidence, but I was notified by a reader just yesterday that my story also titled “Cuckolds Anonymous” was stolen and is being marketed on Amazon by a thief calling him/herself Leah Jenkins. I haven’t even had a chance to look into it yet but it is being sold as “Welcome to Cuckolds Anonymous”. The short story promo intro is clearly my chapter 1 with name changes.

Lesson for other authors, don’t write and name a story “Cuckolds Anonymous”, unless you want it to be stolen. I’m so pissed I have to deal with this now.

 

[FifthEstate]

I tried to publish one of those stories on Amazon, and the reply was: "No, we need to ask the thief before you can do that." It came as no surprise when he didn't answer.

Unbelievable