Email from Amazon.

janrafrank · Jun 15, 2012

Apparently Amazon is sending out volumes of email to Indie publishers giving them 5 days to prove ownership of copyright to books they have published. They want it proven by sending them links. Among the ones who received them are myself and Raw Dog Screaming press. [http://raw-dog.livejournal.com/247007.html

I have been in touch with them by phone, sent my "proofs" such as they were. And so far I am getting nowhere. I would like to hear from other Indies and get any suggestions for handling this that I can.

Mustafa · Jun 15, 2012

I assume you mean, "self published" authors, because I bet indie publishers aren't having any trouble with this. So I think this would be a better fit for the self publishing thread.

veinglory · Jun 15, 2012

They are sent to *any* author where the book content corresponds to some significant degree with online content. e.g. when the book was derived from a blog.

amergina · Jun 15, 2012

Mustafa said:
I assume you mean, "self published" authors, because I bet indie publishers aren't having any trouble with this. So I think this would be a better fit for the self publishing thread.

Raw Dog Screaming Press is a small press and not a self-publisher. In their case, they published content that was available on the web and in print:

I'm a bit mystified about what to do here. The book happens to be a collection of essays, articles and reviews. Many of the pieces have appeared elsewhere on the web and in print. While we don't have sole publishing rights to the material we do have rights to publish the book as a collection of articles. I'm not sure how sending links will verify this right.

(from here)

OTOH, this might be more suited for either the Amazon thread or the Round Table? I don't think it should be hanging out on it's own

James D. Macdonald · Jun 15, 2012

It looks like Amazon is finally doing something about their plagiarism problem.

M.Macabre · Jun 15, 2012

James D. Macdonald said:
It looks like Amazon is finally doing something about their plagiarism problem.

This.

If you don't mind me asking, what do they consider to be 'proof?'

Al Stevens · Jun 15, 2012

When I published the ebook edition of one of my programming books that had gone out of print and for which I had a reversion, Amazon asked for proof. I sent a pdf of the reversion letter and that was all it took. That was over two years ago, so I guess they've been concerned about the issue at least since then.

When I published a second one, they did not ask. I can only guess that they trusted me after the first time.

thothguard51 · Jun 15, 2012

I don't see a problem.

Any publisher worth their salt is going to have back up to show they have permission to use other author's works. Even if they got permission to do so from the authors blog, stating in the blog to feel free to use without limitations, the publisher can point to where that is shown on a blog.

I am also sure Amazon understands rights a bit more than you and I. They have pretty good lawyers.

Fins Left · Jun 15, 2012

I don't think this is entirely a plagerism issue.

If the content is available on the Internet for free, they don't want you putting it up on their site with a price on it.

There are a lot of technical books out there that are nothing more than blogs formatted and pumped through Amazon. All of the books that I've been burned by were trade published and at $40/ea you can bet that they were returned with a long complaint attached. So this isn't just a self-publishing issue.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 15, 2012

There are two letters from Amazon.

This is the first:

From: Amazon Customer Service <[email protected]>
To: [redacted]
Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: Amazon KDP Content Guidelines
Date: May 31, 2012 9:27 PM
Hello, We want to let you know about our policy involving content you submit that is also available for free on the web. This email is for your information only; you do not need to take any action at this time. Copyright is important to us – we want to make sure that no author or other copyright holder has their work claimed and sold by anyone else. If you have the sole publishing rights for the content, you may sell it in the Kindle store and also make it available on your web site. If the book(s) are in the public domain, they may also be sold in the Kindle store and be available for free on the web. However, just because you find content on the web does not mean it is in the public domain. We can’t accept content that closely matches content that is freely available on the web, for which you do not hold the sole publishing rights, or that which is not in the public domain. For example, content from Wikipedia and content with private label rights are not allowed since it disappoints our customers to pay for content that is freely available on the web. If you would like to review our Content Guidelines, please refer to the sections titled “Illegal and Infringing Content” and “Public Domain and Other Non-Exclusive Content” by following this link: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?ie=UTF8&topicId=A2AH1EAPH0YKI9 Best Regards, Amazon KDP

This is the second:

From: "Amazon.com Customer Service " <kdp-quality@ama...
To: [redacted]
Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: Your Amazon KDP Book
Date: Jun 4, 2012 10:00 PM
Hello, During a review of your catalog, we found that one or more of your titles contain content that is freely available on the web. Copyright is important to us – we want to make sure that no author or other copyright holder has their work claimed and sold by anyone else.

[titles redacted]

If, in fact, you are the sole owner of the publishing rights for the books listed above, please provide the URLs for all websites where you have previously published this or any other Kindle content. Please respond within five business days with the requested URLs so we can verify you have the sole publishing rights, or the books will be removed from sale in the Kindle Store. If the content of your book(s) are in the public domain, please confirm this and include the information you used to make this determination. If you have already unpublished the books listed above, please reply with that information. We ask that you unpublish any other book that closely matches content that is freely available on the web for which you do not hold the sole publishing rights, or whose content is not in the public domain. If we discover any other titles you have submitted fail to comply with these conditions or do not meet our Content Guidelines in any other way, your account may be terminated. Instructions on how to unpublish your books can be found here: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publish...YK5S7AJ2NQ#3-2_Can_I_remove_content_unpublish If you have any questions regarding the review process, you can write to us at [email protected]. To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/contact-us Best Regards, Amazon KDP

Cassiepoe · Jun 16, 2012

Hm. I wonder if free samples will be enough to trigger this; I just posted a snippet on my blog to try and encourage sales in general.

Turndog-Millionaire · Jun 17, 2012

This sounds like a proactive step by Amazon. I hear so many stories about people taking advantage of writers, hopefully this will help eradicate it.

Will it be a pain for some people?Sure, but surely worth it in the long run

Matthew (Turndog Millionaire)

James D. Macdonald · Jun 17, 2012

Yes. It's been a scandal for a long time, how Amazon Kindle books have been plagiarized from the web, or constructed out of vast swatches of Wikipedia, or out of so-called "Private Label Rights" (which have been banned at Smashwords since forever).

FOTSGreg · Jun 17, 2012

I received one of the second a week back for one of my older stories that was first published via Bewildering Stories (and still exists in their index, but the rights have long since reverted back to me). I half thought it might be a phishing scam. Guess I really do need to respond...

PeterD · Jun 18, 2012

Sounds like a good move to me. PLR certainly opens doors to abuse. Or to money, for the unscrupulous.

Scott Seldon · Jun 19, 2012

Fins Left said:
I don't think this is entirely a plagerism issue.

If the content is available on the Internet for free, they don't want you putting it up on their site with a price on it.

Everything published on the web, be it a full on web page, a blog, etc. is copyright protected. There is nothing free on the internet, not from a copyright perspective. In order for you to take your blog and website and create a book out of it, you need to prove you are the original copyright holder and creator of the work.

FOTSGreg · Jun 19, 2012

If the rights have reverted to me, even from a free site where the story is archived (and believe me BWS' archives are very deep), then I'm free to do with it what I please, even sell it on Amazon.

I believe...

veinglory · Jun 19, 2012

Indeed. What they are checking for is whether someone else has scraped the content. If you really are the author that doesn't bother them.

Email from Amazon.

janrafrank

Mustafa

New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin

veinglory

volitare nequeo

amergina

Pittsburgh Strong

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

M.Macabre

The Walrus.

Al Stevens

thothguard51

A Gentleman of a refined age...

Fins Left

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Cassiepoe

New Fish; Eager to Swim

Turndog-Millionaire

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

FOTSGreg

Today is your last day.

PeterD

Scott Seldon

Do you hear the people sing?

FOTSGreg

Today is your last day.

veinglory

volitare nequeo