Another thief on Amazon

[Javahead]

I stumbled across another story thief on Amazon: "Chinese Erotica: Asian Adventures" by "Sonam Thapa", published by "Erotica Publications"

The sample chapter looked familiar, so I did a bit of checking. Every story in the book was taken from Literotica and posted without attribution - some renamed, some not. The authors and stories are -

Chloe Tzang:
Chinese Eyes
Hanky Panky (renamed "Something Fishy")

Cattulus123:
Tricking Chen

movieye:
Lust in Translation

LaTourEiffel:
BÚ CUÒ, NOT BAD! (renamed "Fang-Hua")

TheRedChamber:
Beijing Chicken

Wifetheif:
Mrs. Cheng Pays the Debt (renamed "Paying the Debt")

Diego_da_Silva:
Come Chinese, Leave Mexican (renamed "Chinese and Mexican")

TheTask:
Nepenthe (renamed "Jia")

tsto123:
A Trip To Hong Kong

MissClearmont:
Slaves of Xi Ling (renamed "Slaves")

G-String:
The Girl From Hong Kong (renamed "Hong Kong Girl")

TrueNorth1969:
Driven
4 Corners: Listen (renamed "Listen")
Making Moves

brian473317:
The Cleaning Lady (renamed "Cleaning Lady")

likebadfun:
She Didn't Know She Was Dessert! (renamed "Dessert")

NonStopFunGuy:
Hot Wifey Cheats with Bar Stud (renamed "Wifey Cheats")
Meet Claudia, A Real Slut (renamed "Skinny Young Chinese")

HotDraft:
Fine Chinese Dining (renamed "Chinese Dining")

 

[GuessImJamie]

Free "plot bunny:" An author of erotic fiction who is an internet security expert in his "day job," devises code that he embeds in the erotic stories that he submits to free web sites. A sort of "poison pill." It ignores the 99.99% of people who just read the story, it only "goes to work" when a malcontent "flames" the story - causing intermittent internet service interruption and ordering 20,000 "extra small size" penis pumps from Amazondawtkomm. The real ire of the code is unleased when the story is downloaded and resubmitted. It copies the entire hard drive of the offenders computer and posts the content as subsequent stories under the same user name on the same websites... Two or three per day... Forever...

 

[Javahead]

Free "plot bunny:" An author of erotic fiction who is an internet security expert in his "day job," devises code that he embeds in the erotic stories that he submits to free web sites. A sort of "poison pill." It ignores the 99.99% of people who just read the story, it only "goes to work" when a malcontent "flames" the story - causing intermittent internet service interruption and ordering 20,000 "extra small size" penis pumps from Amazondawtkomm. The real ire of the code is unleased when the story is downloaded and resubmitted. It copies the entire hard drive of the offenders computer and posts the content as subsequent stories under the same user name on the same websites... Two or three per day... Forever...

Would that we could do that for real. Or just make their computer catch fire.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Thanks for the heads up. Submitted an infringement notice to Amazon. I’m flattered- I’ve reached the big time!

I stumbled across another story thief on Amazon: "Chinese Erotica: Asian Adventures" by "Sonam Thapa", published by "Erotica Publications"

The sample chapter looked familiar, so I did a bit of checking. Every story in the book was taken from Literotica and posted without attribution - some renamed, some not. The authors and stories are -

Chloe Tzang:
Chinese Eyes
Hanky Panky (renamed "Something Fishy")

Cattulus123:
Tricking Chen

movieye:
Lust in Translation

LaTourEiffel:
BÚ CUÒ, NOT BAD! (renamed "Fang-Hua")

TheRedChamber:
Beijing Chicken

Wifetheif:
Mrs. Cheng Pays the Debt (renamed "Paying the Debt")

Diego_da_Silva:
Come Chinese, Leave Mexican (renamed "Chinese and Mexican")

TheTask:
Nepenthe (renamed "Jia")

tsto123:
A Trip To Hong Kong

MissClearmont:
Slaves of Xi Ling (renamed "Slaves")

G-String:
The Girl From Hong Kong (renamed "Hong Kong Girl")

TrueNorth1969:
Driven
4 Corners: Listen (renamed "Listen")
Making Moves

brian473317:
The Cleaning Lady (renamed "Cleaning Lady")

likebadfun:
She Didn't Know She Was Dessert! (renamed "Dessert")

NonStopFunGuy:
Hot Wifey Cheats with Bar Stud (renamed "Wifey Cheats")
Meet Claudia, A Real Slut (renamed "Skinny Young Chinese")

HotDraft:
Fine Chinese Dining (renamed "Chinese Dining")

 

[Javahead]

Thanks for the heads up. Submitted an infringement notice to Amazon. I’m flattered- I’ve reached the big time!

Hope it works out.

I'd love to see more of your work on Amazon.

But not published by pirates.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Thanks for the heads up. Submitted an infringement notice to Amazon. I’m flattered- I’ve reached the big time!

The sincerest form of flattery is IP theft....wait

Good luck!

 

[ChloeTzang]

Hope it works out.

I'd love to see more of your work on Amazon.

But not published by pirates.

I better start doing it myself

 

[yukonnights]

I better start doing it myself

You probably should really do it. May not get rich, but famous sounds okay

 

[moreandmore]

Thanks for the heads up. Submitted an infringement notice to Amazon. I’m flattered- I’ve reached the big time!

Ms. Chloe, you ARE the definition of big time.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Amazon removed the book with my stories in but most of the other books are still there. Suspect they’re all copies, but Amazon? They don’t care much.

 

[gordo12]

Apparently the author is fluent in German, Portuguese, French, Farsi (or some middle east language) Dutch and so on.

You'd think with a notice that the account owner is stealing work from others they'd shut the entire account. But no.

 

[GuessImJamie]

Apparently the author is fluent in German, Portuguese, French, Farsi (or some middle east language) Dutch and so on.

You'd think with a notice that the account owner is stealing work from others they'd shut the entire account. But no.

Then, as I walked down Second Avenue towards St. Mark's Place,
Where all those people sell used books and other junk on the street,
I saw my penis lying on a blanket
Next to a broken toaster oven.
Some guy was selling it.
I had to buy it off him.
He wanted twenty-two bucks, but I talked him down to seventeen.
I took it home, washed it off,
And put it back on. I was happy again. Complete.
People sometimes tell me I should get it permanently attached,
But I don't know.
Even though sometimes it's a pain in the ass,
I like having a detachable penis.

- Xefos, Rick, Hall, Murdock

 

[ChloeTzang]

Apparently the author is fluent in German, Portuguese, French, Farsi (or some middle east language) Dutch and so on.

You'd think with a notice that the account owner is stealing work from others they'd shut the entire account. But no.

Honestly, that’s what I thought they’d do, but nope, not Amazon. Says rude words!!!!

 

[gordo12]

Then, as I walked down Second Avenue towards St. Mark's Place,
Where all those people sell used books and other junk on the street,
I saw my penis lying on a blanket
Next to a broken toaster oven.
Some guy was selling it.
I had to buy it off him.
He wanted twenty-two bucks, but I talked him down to seventeen.
I took it home, washed it off,
And put it back on. I was happy again. Complete.
People sometimes tell me I should get it permanently attached,
But I don't know.
Even though sometimes it's a pain in the ass,
I like having a detachable penis.

- Xefos, Rick, Hall, Murdock

LOL, I wonder if the wife has an alibi for what she was doing when it vanished

Says rude words!!!!

Understandable. Forgiven. Starts thread for donations for earmuffs for hubby. Tell him the pain and burning sensation only lasts for a couple of hours.

 

[NotWise]

Honestly, that’s what I thought they’d do, but nope, not Amazon. Says rude words!!!!

It might happen now and then. An author named Chan Shah lifted one of my stories and published it on Amazon. Someone else pointed out that the story was available for free on Lit before I even knew about it. I reported the same, and looked at the rest of his posts. They covered a range of genres, and I imagine they were all ripped off.

I checked on it yesterday and couldn't find his page. This morning I found an old link to it, but it's a dead link. It looks like Amazon took it down.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Honestly, that’s what I thought they’d do, but nope, not Amazon. Says rude words!!!!

Now saying polite things about Amazon. As far as I an see, every single book by Sonam Thapa has been taken down. Nice Amazon. Good Amazon

 

[Ada Stuart]

Now saying polite things about Amazon. As far as I an see, every single book by Sonam Thapa has been taken down. Nice Amazon. Good Amazon

YAY!!! And about time They seem to work slow, but thankfully in the right direction

Last time, my complaint was ignored by Amazon.US, but as soon as I filed the same copyright complaint on Amazon.CO.UK, the book was gone in half a day. Not sure if it's always like that, but I'm keeping it in mind until next time...

Uhm, well, let's hope it won't be a next time, LOL

I saw someone mention that it's the number of complaints that does the trick, so that might be a better explanation.

 

[KeithD]

This is really a difficult prospect for distributors like Amazon--determining who really owns what, especially with erotica where authors aren't registering copyright, how ownership is legally determined in the U.S. system. It's good they're making some progress, though, in presuming those pretty definitely found cheating with some titles as not legitimately offering any other titles either.

 

[ChloeTzang]

This is really a difficult prospect for distributors like Amazon--determining who really owns what, especially with erotica where authors aren't registering copyright, how ownership is legally determined in the U.S. system. It's good they're making some progress, though, in presuming those pretty definitely found cheating with some titles as not legitimately offering any other titles either.

Well for mine, I filed the infringement notice and included links to the stories on Literotica along with the “they’re free” notice. They took the book with my stories down first, and left the other ones up. But when I checked again a few days later, all of them were gone. But the one with mine had been there for a few months. I can’t see that they’d make enough from the sales to make it worthwhile.

 

[KeithD]

It's pointing to them being somewhere for free is most probably why they were taken down.

 

[ChloeTzang]

It's pointing to them being somewhere for free is most probably why they were taken down.

Yes, I thought that might have a better chance, which was why I did it.

 

[Wifetheif]

Stolen IP

Wifetheif here,

Thanks for the heads up! Unfortunately, it is not the first time one of my stories has been pirated, nor do I suspect it will be the last. "Mrs. Cheng Pays the Debt" is also available on Amazon under my real name in the form of a full-length novel, where it exists nowhere else. I have created another alias for myself and moved some of my more popular Lit.com offerings from here to e-book form on Amazon. A big part of that is that I was tired of being ripped off. I've also matured a great deal as an author and, even though it is not much money so far (about 500 dollars last year) I have better control of my material and own the copyright. None of my e-books have been pirated but a bunch of my Literotica.com stories were. I know that is no one's fault but it still chaps my hyde. I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you for your vigilant detective work.
Sincerely, Wifetheif.

 

[KeithD]

Wifetheif here,

Thanks for the heads up! Unfortunately, it is not the first time one of my stories has been pirated, nor do I suspect it will be the last. "Mrs. Cheng Pays the Debt" is also available on Amazon under my real name in the form of a full-length novel, where it exists nowhere else. I have created another alias for myself and moved some of my more popular Lit.com offerings from here to e-book form on Amazon. A big part of that is that I was tired of being ripped off. I've also matured a great deal as an author and, even though it is not much money so far (about 500 dollars last year) I have better control of my material and own the copyright. None of my e-books have been pirated but a bunch of my Literotica.com stories were. I know that is no one's fault but it still chaps my hyde. I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you for your vigilant detective work.
Sincerely, Wifetheif.

Are you sure about that? Your profile indicates you're in the United States. You actually applied to the U.S. Copyright Office, paid the fee, and received a formal copyright certificate? If not, no, you don't own copyright in the United States legal system (and don't even bother with the "international law gives me ownership upon creation." It does and the United States has pulled the teeth out of that--purposely).

If not, you didn't do the one legal step in the States that gives you effective ownership (that you could go to court with--that you could get a court date for, the only functional step you can take to legally protect yourself in the United States). And if you don't actually hold a formal U.S. copyright, anyone wanting to steal your material only needs to file for formal copyright themselves. They'll get it--the Copyright Office doesn't research ownership--and they will own it. Haven't seen the thieves go there yet, but there's nothing stopping them from doing it. Writers in the United States mostly are clueless about their actual U.S. copyright protections. This isn't a mistake. The federal government programed this to try to keep writers falsely happy while at the same time not allowing a flood of copyright cases in the courts.

 

[LittleBrain]

Well for mine, I filed the infringement notice and included links to the stories on Literotica along with the “they’re free” notice. They took the book with my stories down first, and left the other ones up. But when I checked again a few days later, all of them were gone. But the one with mine had been there for a few months. I can’t see that they’d make enough from the sales to make it worthwhile.

What information did you give them as I have found one of mine for sale and despite sending links to my Lit pages they say that is not enough proof.

 

[NotWise]

What information did you give them as I have found one of mine for sale and despite sending links to my Lit pages they say that is not enough proof.

There's rarely a way for you to establish authorship of a story published on Lit, if for no other reason, then because we publish under pen names that usually aren't registered.

As a first step, you should tell them that the story is available for free on Lit. They seem to have a "won't be undersold" policy.