Good Grief! What next? My historical romance, A Very Difficult man, has been pirated and copies given away free by five pirate sites I know of. A site in India has pirated my book and is selling it! Of course, I get no royalties.
I report the pirate sites I discover and notify my publisher. The publisher has real legal clout and sends Cease and Desist Orders to the pirate sites. So they remove my book but within weeks it will be back again.
It's bare faced theft. Ethical behaviour has disappeared from the Internet world. Stealing my work that I spent months researching and writing is immoral. It's cheating and I am helpless to stop it.
The music business has been through this for years and years. Their losses have been in the millions of dollars.
It's enough to make me roll up my keyboard, turn off my monitor and go find something else to do. But what?
LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE is supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable and then a black thought clouds my horizon. With the e-readers on the market, the Kindle, the Sony and the Nook, more and more e-books will be stolen and downloaded to the new devices.
Share my pain! Leave a comment. Soothe me.
Anita
www.anitabirt.com
4 comments:
Anita, I'm so sorry your book got pirated. I feel your pain and it's not fair at all. Please keep writing. I haven't read one of your books yet but I'm going to buy one now.
I was blog wandering and found the Cerridewenpress one, saw your story you wrote about your trip on the Ariguani. You reeled me in so I had to look you up.
Don't let pirates get you down.
Wish I had some soothing words about this, Anita! It's the pits! Every week, I find more and more of my titles at pirate sites. And like you, I report the activity. The titles will come down for a few days and then pop right back up. It's a pain. Don't they realise that they could buy for roughly the price of a cup of coffee?
Thanks Laurann and Regina for your comments. Internet thieves circle the world seeking victims.
My only ray of hope is that someone who downloads my book will become enchanted and go out and buy the book or track down my other books.
All we can do is smile and keep on writing
Well, I am outraged on your behalf! Glad you got your publisher to send a cease and desist order. How did you discover the piracy? My sympathies to you. You obviously have more readers than you know.
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