(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)
An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:
(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)
I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:
You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:
First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.
Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.
Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.
In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.
In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:
I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.
In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.
Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.
Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!
NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!
I'm moving 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 thank god!!!!!!
I need £250 to pay my final month's rent before I move! It is due out tomorrow!
My rent is currently £915, my rent in my new house will be only £550!
I will never have to make another donation post!!!
Please donate to my paypal and help me pay my rent so I can fucking move!!!
Ok sorry to post about her but I didn't realize JKR's pen name Robert Galbraith comes from the conversion therapist Robert Galbraith Heath ?!? This is so insane like What the fuck
The Jerusalem Municipality is demolishing the home of Hisham’s family + 119 others in the Bustan area of Silwan to build a park. Here is recent reporting from last week, and here’s an older article by NPR about this specific situation
Donate via Venmo:
https://account.venmo.com/u/hishamfundraiser
Donate via PayPal: hishamfundraiser@gmail.com
Follow the campaign on Instagram and Twitter for updates
[Text ID: My name is Hisham (I am choosing not to publicize my full name out of fear of retaliation from Israel), and along with my wife and our beautiful newborn daughter, I live in a neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem called Silwan. I started this fundraiser as an urgent plea for help, as my family is currently preparing for the worst: the demolition of our home by Israel.
Last year, my family received a home demolition order from the Israeli authorities which dictates the following: if we do not demolish our home by March 15, 2024, the Jerusalem Municipality will demolish it for us, in which case we will have to pay a fine of 82,000 shekels (roughly $22,000). If we fail to pay the fine, I will be jailed.
My elderly parents and all of my siblings also received home demolition orders, as did more than 120 other families in Silwan, some of whom have already had their homes demolished. Unfortunately, forced displacement has been a constant, decades-long battle for us here in Silwan, and this latest wave of demolitions is just one part of the broader Israeli policy to dispossess Palestinians of our homes and land.
My wife and I have poured everything we have into the legal battle over the demolition order, which to our despair, has lead nowhere. I have had to pick up a second job to support us through this prolonged nightmare, and even still, we find ourselves in a position where we will not be able to pay the fine, let alone have anything left to help us move. At this point, we have exhausted all of our options, and we are appealing to you as a last resort.
We ask that you help us reach our fundraising goal of $30,000, which will go directly towards the demolition fine and our search for a new living arrangement.
The imminent destruction of our home and the uncertainty that comes with it has devastated us, especially as this is happening at a time when we are witnessing an extreme escalation of Israel’s violence and aggression throughout all of Palestine. We are terrified for our safety and our future, and we pray that you can help us.
God bless you all, be safe everywhere. Thank you very much, Hisham. /End ID]
Still homeless trans and disabled if you need to know! It is looking very likely that we will have to move south. This is due to a combination of things - both costs and Several family emergencies, as well as other factors. To do this we need money for transportation, medication and other essentials (food etc).
On top of this we urgently need $300 to pay our storage bill as they have ended the lease because we've always been late paying the bill. If we do not pay this ASAP we will lose our stuff as they will auction it off.
In terms of transport we will need money to move this stuff south with us. We also have things we need to pick up from a friend's place to bring down with us.
We Palestinians don't just want to live! We want to live in our homeland!! Our homeland! 🗝️
Donate here to our families to restore our lives .
(Click here for Part 2).
(Click here for Part 3).
(Click here for Part 4).
(Click here for Part 5).
(06/19/2024)
Divider by: @cafekitsune
here, have some:
Just in case