Amazon Ebook Copyright Complaints & How To Fight Stolen Ebooks

[Shenachie2010]

Happy New Year all from bonny Scotland.

I'm looking to pick your brains on how to get an ebook onto Amazon. I have enough material I think for 4 short books in hand. any step by step guides around please?

Pete, aka Shenachie 2010

 

[Gethelred]

Just FYI...

The author Abigail Miller has published 17 short erotic story compilations last year, and while I can't say for certain that she's plagairised all of them she has certainly plagairised four that I know of.

From Seduction Unleashed - Steamy Tales of Passion and Desire, story 1:
You look amazing, but something is missing. Ah, yes, the lip gloss. How could you forget! You know I'd be disappointed if you had forgotten it. You pull it from your makeup bag, lean closer for a better look in the mirror and apply a subtle amount. Just enough to give your lips a hint shine. You smile knowing I would definitely approve. As you look at yourself in the mirror, you notice movement in the reflection. You shift your gaze. Your heart races and you whirl around. You are surprised to see me. You have no idea how long I've been there, nor do you care. All that matters is I'm there!

Second paragraph of munkin224's A Cam Model's Fantasy:
https://www.literotica.com/s/a-cam-models-fantasy

From Untamed Desires - Sensual Stories of Wild Passion, story 1:
The images are still so clear, and she sees herself waiting at the window for him to arrive, impatiently, nervously. She wonders if the skirt is right. "Will he like it? Does it make me look fat? Why did I pick RED?" She smiles secretly to herself as she waits, anticipating that first electrifying touch of his hand on her warm, bare skin beneath the skirt. Remembrance of past touches brings a great sigh of longing and a familiar wetness. Her fingers dip and sample the creamy muskiness, bringing her fingertips to her lips, savoring the taste and feel, appreciating her womaness. The sigh retreats and returns as a great flood of passion, catching in her throat, as she sees him striding across the grass to meet her.

Three Hours, by Vicki Sexton:
https://www.literotica.com/s/3-hours

I don't have the time to go through their entire collection to see just how many authors they've stolen from - and to this point, they haven't stolen from me yet - but to this point every story I've tested from their short story compilations has resulted in a hit from Literotica.

@Vicki Sexton
@munkin224

One would think it'd be in Literotica's best interests to ensure author's works are protected.

 

[Sams_Island]

I realize we're basically part of a Mom & Pop operation (and thank you for it), but I wonder if Literotica can take standing as a publisher to organize LitE authors' responses to stolen stories?
For example, today I stumbled across

Cheating Stories Best
5.21K subscribers
[https:]//[www].youtube.com/watch?v=hIpjixHRHbA
My Daughter Was Hiding My Cheating Wife's Secrets...
14,181 views Mar 9, 2024
My videos are educational. You listen to these stories and learn from others' mistakes. We analyse people's behaviour. My content cannot be called formulaic or automatic, because all stories are authored and I compose them myself.

Thank you for your views, subscribe to my channel. I try to make interesting videos for you. Your likes and comments inspire me to create the next videos
[bold added]

Which rang a loud bell of familiarity. Yep, it's,
Daddy, We Have to Talk, https://www.literotica.com/s/daddy-we-have-to-talk
by CindyTV, 07/02/23
https://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=6253730&page=submissions

Wouldn't be surprised to learn that many of the other BTB stories on this site came from our LitE colleagues.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

While Amazon provides 7 boxes for keywords when a book is published, there is actually a 50-character limit within each of the 7 boxes that allow for multiple keywords to be entered into each. By reviewing the keywords that the highest selling books in a particular category uses, an author can increase the index potential for their own books when readers search Amazon. (Think of these at “tags” as used here on Literotica)

Following are the Amazon Best Seller Ranking (ABSR) keywords for the “Books: Literature & Fiction: Erotica” category based on the top books in the category. (Genre-specific books, such as erotic horror or LGBQT+ will have additional keywords):

Erotica, Literature, Fiction, Sensual, Sexy, Passion, Desire, Romance, Adult, Explicit, Steamy, Seductive, Kinky, BDSM, Explicit, Forbidden, Pleasure, Lust, Sexual, Erotic fantasy, Temptation, Obsession.

Placing multiple keywords into one of the boxes means that your book will not only be indexed for each of the individual words, but it will also be indexed for any combination of the keywords entered. For example, entering "Kinky Forbidden Pleasure" in one of the boxes would get your book indexed to appear in a search for "Kinky Pleasure", "Forbidden Pleasure", or any other combination of the words.

You can go to Amazon and edit your categories and keywords at any time after your book is published so feel free to find the selections that work best.

Better indexed books are also more secure, since pirates will seldom be knowledgeable enough about a pilfered story to select the right keywords, or willing to make the effort to enter them.

 

[MattMars]

There are several YouTube channels posting butchered versions of stories that were posted in the Loving Wives section here. They market them as cheating wives stories and they are ALL monetized. How can this be combated?

 

[TheWritingGroup]

There are several YouTube channels posting butchered versions of stories that were posted in the Loving Wives section here. They market them as cheating wives stories and they are ALL monetized. How can this be combated?

@NoTalentHack has attempted to automate that process: https://forum.literotica.com/threads/guide-to-lodging-copyright-strikes-on-youtube.1614835/

-Rocco

 

[NoTalentHack]

@NoTalentHack has attempted to automate that process: https://forum.literotica.com/threads/guide-to-lodging-copyright-strikes-on-youtube.1614835/

-Rocco

I haven't gotten quite as far as automating it yet, but I'm working on that bit. Still, I've made the actual strike process as easy as I can outside of that. Hope it proves useful!

 

[other2other1]

I recently went through the process that NTH outlined when readers let me know about finding two of my stories on YouTube. While I am honoured that someone feels that what I write is good enough to steal, I wouldn't say I like that they take and post it without my permission. The funny thing is if they asked and would give me credit linking to my Lit profile and Patreon blog then I would likely welcome seeing a few of my stories shown.

That said, I did not give permission, nor was I credited, so I went through the above. I've had one story removed and the other is processing.

Thanks to NTH and the Lit Admin team for taking the time to outline how this is all done!

 

[other2other1]

Submitted another three takedowns to YouTube today. Big thanks to the readers who keep sending me the links when they find them. It's really encouraging!

These channels are now trying to get it through by only posting parts of the story or having their AI bots just read it.

You would think though, that they would at least give it another round of editing and removal my mistakes and typos. Kind of a dead giveaway...

 

[BDSMGromit]

I haven't been writing long, but I found one of my stories on another website. It is one of my earlier works, not the more polished stuff I write now. I'm wondering if when I complete one of my more polished, longer stories if I should submit it to Amazon even if I get no sales, it should protect my work from theft.

 

[BDSMGromit]

My original is here: https://www.literotica.com/s/christmas-lover

I didn't read your story, but a quick copy-paste showed the first page was 3,500 words, with six pages that a story of roughly twenty-one thousand words in length. Do people actually pay for a story that short? If people are paying for an ebook story, I assumed it would be at least forty to sixty thousand words long.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I didn't read your story, but a quick copy-paste showed the first page was 3,500 words, with six pages that a story of roughly twenty-one thousand words in length. Do people actually pay for a story that short? If people are paying for an ebook story, I assumed it would be at least forty to sixty thousand words long.

For erotica, readers will ll pay a good amount per words if it’s their kink. 4 or 5 bucks for 20K words would certainly not be unheard of.

 

[BDSMGromit]

Looking at the Amazon site, it appears your ebook only needs to be 2500 words in length but also must be 24 pages long. That's 104 words a page; I have to increase the font size to 24 to get close to that few words per page. I'm not sure who the rocket scientist at Amazon came up with these figures. A more realistic number would be 14,000 words for 24 pages.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Looking at the Amazon site, it appears your ebook only needs to be 2500 words in length but also must be 24 pages long. That's 104 words a page; I have to increase the font size to 24 to get close to that few words per page. I'm not sure who the rocket scientist at Amazon came up with these figures. A more realistic number would be 14,000 words for 24 pages.

Remember that may include both the front and back covers, table of contents, title page, etc. That stuff adds up pretty quick. Looking at the epub for one of my stories, seven pages get chewed up by random nonsense.

 

[HuckPilgrim]

The only page count requirement I have come up against on Amazon was for print books. I've published some pretty short stories @ $2.99 USD price point (less than 5k). If I go longer, I usually charge $3.99. I don't get complaints. If I write really short stories (1-2k), I just wait until I have about three or four.

 

[BDSMGromit]

The only page count requirement I have come up against on Amazon was for print books. I've published some pretty short stories @ $2.99 USD price point (less than 5k). If I go longer, I usually charge $3.99. I don't get complaints. If I write really short stories (1-2k), I just wait until I have about three or four.

Just curious, what do you make off a typical story? Monthly income? I hardly expect my writing to replace my 140k+ job, but a few extra bucks might be nice.

 

[HuckPilgrim]

Not much! I'm sure others make a lot more than me, but I enjoy writing and growing an audience is like icing on the cake. Publishing is also kind of fun in a geeky sort of way. It's not that hard to put together a book for sale.

Here are some rough numbers:

$30 USD a month at Amazon (lifetime - 12 years, 9 months) for 65 titles - e-books and print-on-demand paperback
$15 USD a month at Google (past 3 years) for 110 titles - e-books and audio

 

[EverydayMagic]

Thank you, this is very helpful. I have just experience this same problem.

 

[Shenachie2010]

I was reading a Kindle unlimited book last night by a "female" author and thought this sounds very familiar but the main name in the story was not. Then I looked at the chapters and in my view they have been stolen from one of the authors on LIt. 80niner is the Lit author but seems to be very inactive. Probably why it's his material that has been abused.

What to do?

 

[StillStunned]

Get in touch with the author here on Lit and let them decide how to proceed. I recently found an ebook for sale on Amazon that had at least three of my stories. I filed a copyright complaint (through the product page, not the general copyright information), and it was taken down in a matter of hours.

But this would be for the author to decide. It could be their own book, that they edited slightly for publication. If so, I doubt they'd appreciate any interference. If not, it would be up to them to get the book taken down.

 

[Shenachie2010]

Ok and thanks as that had not occurred to me. I'll drop them a line and that's my conscience clear.

 

[Samuelx]

Facts my friends

 

[Adam_Sephenson]

Does it help to place a disclaimer/copyright notice at the beginning or the end of our stories, stating that our works are a product exclusive to Literotica and are protected, etc.? surely that should help shoo away those who think of stealing hard earned written stories that were created by the authors here?

 

[RejectReality]

Does it help to place a disclaimer/copyright notice at the beginning or the end of our stories, stating that our works are a product exclusive to Literotica and are protected, etc.? surely that should help shoo away those who think of stealing hard earned written stories that were created by the authors here?

It won't discourage the thieves stealing them to sell them in any way. They'll strip that notice and sell away. Many seeking to exploit them for clout or as content for their site will also strip the copyright notice off and go about their day. What it can accomplish is potentially redirecting people back to you here on the fair number of thieving sites that automate their theft, and so steal your copyright notice mentioning Literotica as well.