Not all pirates are sexy!

I was just getting caught up on my favorite author blogs and it made
me sad to read so many of them having problems with
piracy of their work.

Internet piracy is a growing disease, spreading
as quickly as a plague!  The end result for ebooks
is its robbing the readers from books that would
have been written and from the authors it is
taking not only income but the drive that makes
them sit down and write the stories in the first
place.
This theft affects all writers, whether they are
with smaller presses or the large ones.  Stephanie
Meyer was affected by this tragedy when a partial
copy of the 5th book in her twilight saga was posted
on line - that book was never finished, or if it was
no one ever read it.  I personally would have loved
to read the book that was written in a different
perspective than Bella's ... but now I won't get to
because someone decided it was their right to post
whatever they wanted on the internet without thinking
of the consequences.
I have several author friends that are constantly having
to put their writing on hold to issue endless requests to
have their work taken down from illegal sites.
Ebook piracy affects more than just the author, the publisher
loses revenue as well and the result of that is they publish
fewer books than they could have.
Someone recently commented to me that if your book is
being pirated than it must be a fantastic book because if
it wasn't no one would be passing it along ... this person
is still dangling from their toes from the tree in my backyard
(inside my mind at least). Whether the readers think your
book is the most amazing, riveting story ever is not the
point.  To the author that has sat there writing, plotting,
proofing, editing and working their keyboard until their wrists
hurt any piracy is an insult that you don't ever recover from.

There are sites that will help you get all your work taken down
- for a fee.  Which is wonderful that someone is out there to help,
but if you're already losing royalties while paying for promotion -
is this really the way??
We are in a time where you can post something in the window
of your own computer while sitting at home and in less than
twenty-four hours it's being read world wide - so why can't
we find a way to stop the illegal downloads of our work?
Do we need to co-ordinate one day where every single person
on all of our networking lists posts the same thing to get some
awareness going?  It could happen with enough planning.
One day on the calendar where everyone helps bring awareness
to as many as they can reach around the world ... would this
stop a small percentage?   I really don't know but I do know
that something has to be done.

Help spread the word and join the fight!

Sexy pirates....

not so sexy!

Takedown Requests (DMCAs)

Imagine that after hours of hard work in creating, editing, and submitting your work, your book is now available for the reading public. You've been promoting, trying to spread the word, when you learn that your book has been uploaded on a file sharing site for the masses to take free of charge. It's a horrible feeling, as well as something that is incredibly confusing for a new author. I remember when this first happened to me, I had no idea what to do. I didn't have a formal letter, nor any idea of how to have the links removed. It's not enough to state you are the owner of the copyright, rather you have to list numerous things, especially if you want to see results.

In an effort to help those new to this, I wanted to share a couple of templates I use when sending out DMCA notices. As soon as I have book that is released, I also make sure I create a new word document with all the information and fill out the blanks as necessary. Although I hope you're not faced with piracy, perhaps these will help make the task a bit easier in the event you need them.

DMCA Templates:

Hello,

My name is <insert your name here> and I am requesting take down of my work that is being shared in violation of copyright, as is stated in the warning issued in the work being illegally shared below.

<insert name of your work here> -- ISBN#: <insert ISBN here>

is available for purchase at: <insert link where your book can be purchased>

I have good faith and belief that the use of aforementioned material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agents, or the law. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or
mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and e-mail, without prior written permission from <insert the name of your publisher here>. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the (copyright) owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Links are available on your site here:

<insert link where book is available on file sharing site>

I would appreciate it if you could remove these as soon as possible.
 
You can contact me via at the address below:

<insert your name here> c/o <insert name of your publisher here>
<insert the address of your publisher here.  You can usually find this information on your publishers website, or by asking your editor, etc>

Regards,

<insert your name here>


Another good letter to use is this one:


Attn: Moderator,

Pursuant to 17 USC 512(c)(3)(A), this communication serves as a statement that:

(1). I am the duly authorized representative of the exclusive rights holder for <insert name of publisher here> and all of its holdings;

(2). These exclusive rights are being violated by material available upon your site at the following URL(s): <insert link where you material is being offered on file sharing site>

(3) I have a good faith belief that the use of this material in such a fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the copyright holder's agent, or the law;

(4) Under penalty of perjury in a United States court of law, I state that the information contained in this notification is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on the behalf of the exclusive rights holder for the material in question;

(5) I may be contacted by the following methods:

Send mail to: <insert publishers address here>

Call: <insert phone number of publisher here, or if you prefer, you can leave this blank although some file sharing sites require a phone number>

Or

Email:  <insert your email here>

I hereby request that you remove or disable access to this material as it appears on your service in as expedient a fashion as possible. Thank you for your kind cooperation.

Regards,

<insert your name here>

Piracy is a tangled web, one that's hard to maneuver, but once you have a letter, it's just a matter of ensuring you have a Google Alert for your material in place (which you can learn about by doing a Google search for Google Alerts).  I also register at the piracy sites and check them frequently.  It does take a lot of time and diligence, but if you're willing to stay on top of things you can be successful in having the links removed.  Keep in mind that there are places, namely torrent sites, who will not comply with DMCA requests.  Trying never hurts, but be prepared in the event you come across these.