Another thief on Amazon

[Misshotndeep]

If you report it to Amazon they will just shut down the posters account. That is the most they do. If you published apiece on Lit then Lit owns it. You guys really should read the rules before publishing on here.

 

[NotWise]

If you report it to Amazon they will just shut down the posters account. That is the most they do. If you published apiece on Lit then Lit owns it. You guys really should read the rules before publishing on here.

You should read the terms. Lit explicitly does not own a story that you publish here. You retain ownership.

 

[MetaBob]

If you published apiece on Lit then Lit owns it.

Here's what Literotica actually says about that.

If I submit a story to Literotica, do I still own the copyright?

Absolutely. You are simply granting us a non-exclusive right to publish your story on Literotica.com and granting Literotica the right to enforce the copyright on your story should it be used without your permission by any other publication - online, print, or other media.

While Literotica is not in any way required to enforce your copyright for you, you are granting us the right to do so if we become aware of anyone using your story without your explicit consent. The right to enforce your copyright that you are granting us includes the right to file DMCA complaints, file lawsuits, and any and all other necessary actions, both foreign and domestic, to prevent unauthorized people and companies from using your submissions without your permission.

The reason we require you to grant us the shared right to enforce your copyright (of course you also retain the right to enforce your own copyrights) is so that we have the legal power needed to protect your works from unauthorized publication on websites and in other media. As long as you grant permission to a website or other media to publish your stories, we have no right to enforce copyright law on them. Only websites or other media that publish/copy your stories without your permission are included in this granting of rights.

Other than these two issues, all rights to the story still belong to you, the author.

You guys really should read the rules before publishing on here.

Splendid advice. I hope you take it.

 

[KeithD]

It's called "nonexclusive use rights." The author has given the publisher the right to publish while retaining the right to do anything else with it they want. Of course, in the United States, it's only meaningful if you've formally registered the copyright in your name. If you haven't, you can't legally defend ownership rights in a court of law.

 

[ChloeTzang]

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.

They sent me that reply too, and I resent links to the story on Literotica along with asserting I was copyright owner. In parallel I submitted a complaint that it was available for free on Literotica. Not sure which worked but they took it down.

 

[NotWise]

They sent me that reply too, and I resent links to the story on Literotica along with asserting I was copyright owner. In parallel I submitted a complaint that it was available for free on Literotica. Not sure which worked but they took it down.

It may have been multiple people taking the same actions that got them to do something.

 

[JamesMiehoff]

It may have been multiple people taking the same actions that got them to do something.

It was probably that they weighed the effort of listening to a bunch of people bitching vs the effort of removing a story or two. Deleting a story must take fewer keystrokes than sending a form letter reply.

James

 

[Ada Stuart]

Amazon never ceases to amaze me.

One of my oldest stories here on Lit got stolen and sold on Amazon.

So, I filed a complaint and after a lot of back and forth, Amazon removed it and even sent me an email to confirm that they did.

Now, I've rewritten the entire thing and added 15k, but when I try to publish it, Amazon finally locates the old copyright complaint and refuses to publish the new one.

They write:

Prior to your submission, we received a notice and takedown for a book that matches to yours, from a third party claiming that the distribution of the book above was not properly authorized due to copyright infringement

We don’t involve ourselves in third party disputes and because we have not received any communication from the involved parties that the matter has been resolved, we have determined that we will not be making the book(s) available for sale on Amazon at this time.

Amazing really It feels like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

Still, it is about time they started worrying about copyright, but it seems that it's more difficult for the author to publish, than it is for the thieves to do the same.


Anyway, I've located the email they sent me, but what else can you do to convince them? Does it help to create an official author page?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Anyway, I've located the email they sent me, but what else can you do to convince them? Does it help to create an official author page?

It's easy enough to do, and lays claim to a common ownership of your books. Why wouldn't you create an Author's Page? It only takes a few minutes and can't hurt - whether or not it brings sales is a completely different question .

 

[RejectReality]

That's a somewhat surprising development. Looks like if you convince them to take something that's infringing down, it's pretty much a no-go for someone else to try again later. I would imagine that would make them look a little more closely at anything else that person submits as well.

 

[Ada Stuart]

It's easy enough to do, and lays claim to a common ownership of your books. Why wouldn't you create an Author's Page? It only takes a few minutes and can't hurt - whether or not it brings sales is a completely different question .

Oh, I was going to create one - as soon as I had a few titles, so I guess it's about time I already have one on Amazon, but it seems what they are asking for is a more official one with a unique domain and hosting services including emails since they asked for proof that I was the owner.

They wrote:

To publish the book(s), reply to this email and send documentation and/or verification showing you hold rights to the content. Please submit any documents you have, along with an explanation of any previously published books within 5 days.

Acceptable documentation may include:
• A letter from the previous publisher reverting rights back to the author
• A signed copy of the agreement between you and the author
• A signed copy of the agreement between the author and the previous publisher
• A signed letter from the previous publisher indicating that they do not object to your edition
• Documentation showing the previous publisher holds nonexclusive rights
• An email from the address listed on the previous publisher's official website indicating that they do not object to your edition
• If previously published through KDP or CreateSpace, an email from the address listed in the previous KDP/CreateSpace publisher's account indicating that they do not object to your edition
• If the author has an official website, an email from the address listed on the author’s official website indicating that they do not object to your edition


So, that's where I got the idea that an author site might help to convince them.

I would appreciate all recommendations as to which hosting service to go for?

 

[Ada Stuart]

That's a somewhat surprising development. Looks like if you convince them to take something that's infringing down, it's pretty much a no-go for someone else to try again later. I would imagine that would make them look a little more closely at anything else that person submits as well.

Absolutely And I guess I should be thankful that it would be just as difficult for anyone else to steal the story and publish it

LOL, well, maybe Amazon is moving in the right direction, eh?

Still, I have already published 2 other titles at Amazon, both of which were previously plagiarized, and Amazon republished them without any fuss. So, maybe it depends on the person doing that final check before the new one is released... Just bad luck, this time

 

[RejectReality]

Assuming that Lit is the previous publisher, you might be able to PM Laurel and ask her to fulfill the requirement, noting that she has confirmed your identity through your account here, and Lit holds only non-exclusive rights.

If it wasn't for the previous claim, a simple link to the FAQ showing that Lit only asks for non-exclusive rights would probably do the trick.

Some registrars are also hosting companies, and will provide you a free website with the purchase of a domain name. Typically, adult content isn't allowed on those free websites, but what is defined as "adult" varies. You may very well be able to set up a quick, basic, single-page site that says something such as your pen name for the marketplace, your pen name on Lit, and your stories on a free site. Perhaps even link to your Lit stories directly. Amazon compliant covers may even be acceptable on such free hosting.

You'll have to talk to the host and find out how far you can go.

The pen names and the list of your work are the important things. Mainly, whatever work you plan to publish in the marketplace. That combined with the email you should get with your domain ( make sure you set it up as admin@ or webmaster@ ) should fulfill the requirements Amazon is asking of you.

If you ever plan to expand into a full-fledged website, you'll almost certainly have to go with paid hosting before you do that.

Oh, I was going to create one - as soon as I had a few titles, so I guess it's about time I already have one on Amazon, but it seems what they are asking for is a more official one with a unique domain and hosting services including emails since they asked for proof that I was the owner.

They wrote:

To publish the book(s), reply to this email and send documentation and/or verification showing you hold rights to the content. Please submit any documents you have, along with an explanation of any previously published books within 5 days.

Acceptable documentation may include:
• A letter from the previous publisher reverting rights back to the author
• A signed copy of the agreement between you and the author
• A signed copy of the agreement between the author and the previous publisher
• A signed letter from the previous publisher indicating that they do not object to your edition
• Documentation showing the previous publisher holds nonexclusive rights
• An email from the address listed on the previous publisher's official website indicating that they do not object to your edition
• If previously published through KDP or CreateSpace, an email from the address listed in the previous KDP/CreateSpace publisher's account indicating that they do not object to your edition
• If the author has an official website, an email from the address listed on the author’s official website indicating that they do not object to your edition


So, that's where I got the idea that an author site might help to convince them.

I would appreciate all recommendations as to which hosting service to go for?

 

[Ada Stuart]

Assuming that Lit is the previous publisher, you might be able to PM Laurel and ask her to fulfill the requirement, noting that she has confirmed your identity through your account here, and Lit holds only non-exclusive rights.

If it wasn't for the previous claim, a simple link to the FAQ showing that Lit only asks for non-exclusive rights would probably do the trick.

Some registrars are also hosting companies, and will provide you a free website with the purchase of a domain name. Typically, adult content isn't allowed on those free websites, but what is defined as "adult" varies. You may very well be able to set up a quick, basic, single-page site that says something such as your pen name for the marketplace, your pen name on Lit, and your stories on a free site. Perhaps even link to your Lit stories directly. Amazon compliant covers may even be acceptable on such free hosting.

You'll have to talk to the host and find out how far you can go.

The pen names and the list of your work are the important things. Mainly, whatever work you plan to publish in the marketplace. That combined with the email you should get with your domain ( make sure you set it up as admin@ or webmaster@ ) should fulfill the requirements Amazon is asking of you.

If you ever plan to expand into a full-fledged website, you'll almost certainly have to go with paid hosting before you do that.

Fantastic, RejectReality That was just the information I was hoping for, so thank you so much

Good thinking on that email address, by the way! It didn't cross my mind at all until you mentioned it. Thanks

 

[RejectReality]

Fantastic, RejectReality That was just the information I was hoping for, so thank you so much

Good thinking on that email address, by the way! It didn't cross my mind at all until you mentioned it. Thanks

Unfortunately, that's experience talking. LOL I set mine up as my pen name@ and I ended up having to add an admin@ address. Even when your email address is the same as the domain name, a lot of places only accept those two addresses as valid confirmation addresses.

 

[Ada Stuart]

Unfortunately, that's experience talking. LOL I set mine up as my pen name@ and I ended up having to add an admin@ address. Even when your email address is the same as the domain name, a lot of places only accept those two addresses as valid confirmation addresses.

Haha, that sounds familiar. Easier to remember mistakes based on experience, in my opinion

Thanks for sharing your experience though

I checked some providers and it seems that I'll go for some web hosting and a Wordpress format. Well, I guess that's the quick and easy way of getting something that requires minimal frustration and time - my programming skills are a bit rusty at the moment, LOL

 

[ElectricBlue]

Oh, I was going to create one - as soon as I had a few titles, so I guess it's about time I already have one on Amazon, but it seems what they are asking for is a more official one with a unique domain and hosting services including emails since they asked for proof that I was the owner.

Ah, I thought you meant, "I should get an Author's Page on Amazon."

How much income are you expecting - are you sure it's worth the bother? I've had a bookshelf for about a year now, and I've earned a hundred bucks in that time. I set up a blog which nobody reads, and so far I've not recovered the cost of one cover and two lots of ISBN registration. I'd do some sums before spending money on websites and hosting fees. Unless you're churning out content regularly, it's a lot of effort for minimal return, from what I've experienced. It was a fun experiment for me, but nothing more.

 

[RejectReality]

The value from mine comes in having an easy way to answer frequent questions about the timeline of all my Danica's World stories. I've got a page for that which links every story's database entry on my site, where the posting locations are linked, and also includes other important world events to give context to mentions of them in the narratives.

Not all of my stories are on every site, either. Danica's too young in one of her history stories to meet guidelines here, so going through my website, people can find that story they missed in the timeline. I've got a few exclusive stories that are only on my website as well. The Laresa chain is only complete here on Lit, so there's links to mine and everyone else's stories on my site so people from other sites can read the whole chain and its side stories.

It's worth it to me, even though I don't make a dime off it. Also provides me a reliable host that I control for images and files I want to link to. I've continuously had a website for various things since the 90s, so its also just the norm for me.

Ah, I thought you meant, "I should get an Author's Page on Amazon."

How much income are you expecting - are you sure it's worth the bother? I've had a bookshelf for about a year now, and I've earned a hundred bucks in that time. I set up a blog which nobody reads, and so far I've not recovered the cost of one cover and two lots of ISBN registration. I'd do some sums before spending money on websites and hosting fees. Unless you're churning out content regularly, it's a lot of effort for minimal return, from what I've experienced. It was a fun experiment for me, but nothing more.

 

[Ada Stuart]

Ah, I thought you meant, "I should get an Author's Page on Amazon."

How much income are you expecting - are you sure it's worth the bother? I've had a bookshelf for about a year now, and I've earned a hundred bucks in that time. I set up a blog which nobody reads, and so far I've not recovered the cost of one cover and two lots of ISBN registration. I'd do some sums before spending money on websites and hosting fees. Unless you're churning out content regularly, it's a lot of effort for minimal return, from what I've experienced. It was a fun experiment for me, but nothing more.

Hm, good thinking, EB And thanks for the reality check.

No, I'm not making much from my book sales either, so a hosting solution will probably never be worthwhile financially.

Come to think of it, I earn more from Apple sales than from Amazon so that web page will only be used for making Amazon (hopefully) publish my revised editions - which Apple is already selling.

So, basically, it's probably more cost-efficient to spend my time writing a new story that has never been plagiarized. Yep, I think I will do that instead

 

[ElectricBlue]

So, basically, it's probably more cost-efficient to spend my time writing a new story that has never been plagiarized. Yep, I think I will do that instead

Yes, that was the conclusion I quickly reached. New stories = content downstream if for whatever reason existing content sales pick up. But don't order your new yacht .

I'm a start-up content provider for PleazeMe (a beta "sexual liberation site" which is in very early days - I'm currently the only fiction writer posting there, from what I can see). They've recently told me that one of my story series (A Girl on the Bus, which is also running here) will be featured in an upcoming newsletter, so it will be interesting to see what reaction that gets.

Meanwhile, I keep writing and submitting here, because the reader reaction can be measured in one way or another.