How to Protect Your (Copy) Rights

EDITED: 03/10/13

The things we learn about copyright infringement, and I honestly did NOT know this before now. You MUST register your work with the copyright office prior to initiating legal action against infringers. Probably a "duh-duh" for many of you--please forgive my naivete. If you have not already done so, I urge everyone to spend the $35 to electronically register your work ASAP, because failing to do so in a timely fashion may cost you the right to recover some forms of damages, and attorneys may be less willing to represent you if you have not done so.

Edited 9/1/13

Shortly after taking the infringing video down, YouTube reinstated it, due to my failure to provide proof that I had initiated a lawsuit against the offender. This was despite my provision of screen caps and other evidence detailing the infringement. As a poor "self-publisher," I did not have the means to retain an attorney and pursue the pirate for damages, and due to my failure to register the copyright, none would take the case on a contingency basis, since "statutory" damages were not available. This policy by YouTube is basically a "license to steal" from anyone you believe cannot afford to sue . . .

"Ten Questions is good enough to pirate! John David's work is definitely worth stealing."

-Anonymous
YouTube Bandit and Online ebook Pirate

They say that you have "arrived" as an author or artist when your work is pirated.

It still feels kind of "rapey," though.

Like a physical rape, the violation of your artistic property and your psyche does not end when the act does. To the contrary, that is only the beginning. Now you must learn to cope with the aftermath.

I couldn't sleep at all the night I discovered that Ten Questions - The Insider's Guide to Saving Money on Auto Insurance: Hidden Discounts Revealed had been pirated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS37T9...

I had been uploading the revised version of my own YouTube promotional video for the work, when a title appeared in the "recommended" list. Out of curiosity, I clicked the link and from the opening "disclaimer," I knew that I was listening to my own work.

I spent the better part of two years creating the 78 page book that is Ten Questions. It took a great deal of effort to make it that short. I even directed the production of an audiobook version. I did all the editing and proofreading myself, and yes I had to revise it several times before it was "perfect" in my eyes.

So you could say that I am intimately familiar with every one of the 22,560 words in my book. When I heard the voice of the professional narrator begin to read "his" disclaimer, (which was basically a combination of my disclosure and disclaimer) my stomach got queasy, and my blood pressure rose.

The video was five minutes long, and was little more than a line-by-line, bad plagiarism of my work. The video included a link to a FREE ebook, with all the "Quick Insider Tips." Whoever produced this spent both time and money to do so. I have produced and narrated audiobooks and promotional videos, and even a five-minute long version takes about an entire day.

Pirating and producing the "free" ebook ("All Rights Reserved")(!) took some time as well, plus the narrator did not work for free, I'm sure. So this was an elaborate and expensive piracy, not just a quick upload of the PDF version of my book to a torrent site.

The video had just under 6400 views when I discovered it, and had been up since August of 2012. I have absolutely no doubt that the stolen work cost me sales of my book, in all formats. This is a shame, mostly because the "bullet points" of a non-fiction book are pretty much useless out of context, and that is all the "free" ebook contained. So the real "harm" was to those who thought they were getting the Twinkie, when all they really got was just a stale "cream-filled sponge cake."

I had taken all the usual recommended precautions to protect my work and copyright, including setting up "Google Alerts" to warn me of any search hits for similar content or excerpts from my work. My sophisticated pirate buddy knew better than to upload the "free" ebook as anything searchable by Google spiders, which is why the ebook appeared as IMAGES of the text, and not something in PDF or DOC format.

It was a slideshow of screen caps, 12 pages worth, and was downloadable. I have yet to get this material taken down, because it is not available as a Google doc (as I had originally thought) but is instead in HTML format, saved on the offender's website.

My first immediate response was to post two comments on the offending video, the first stating that it is based on my work, (listing the complete title) and stating my desire that the content be removed immediately in accordance with the DMCA. (Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

The second comment I posted listed the chapters that were plagiarized, and referred viewers to my actual video and website for more information. I did this to 1)assert my copyright and 2) make sure that people could get the real information. I also knew that it would be days before I could get the content removed.

One note here for you:

If your work is pirated like mine was, make sure that you document every aspect of the piracy and your response, as completely as possible. I did this by taking as many screenshots as I could, of all the offending materials and my responses to it. You will need these to file your complaint and lawsuit anyway, and they will be difficult or impossible to get once the content has been removed.

I also saved the entire original video, before it was removed. I put all of the screen caps and evidence into one folder, and then submitted my material to YouTube. After they replied with a request for "specific" examples of the "alleged" infringements, I replied with side-by-side screen caps of the offending video and my work, with the "real" material highlighted in yellow. I also sent YouTube a PDF of my entire work, because they have a "plagiarism detector" tool, much as Amazon does, to use in cases like this.

This is one of the things that Amazon (and presumably other platforms as well) do when you upload your work initially. They "vet" your work against the existing works in their database, and if more than a small percentage is similar or identical to another work, they will not publish "your" work.

This is why the pirated version of my book was not on any platform, and was not for "sale" anywhere.

Once I supplied the evidence, YouTube immediately took the video down, but the offender has 10 days to protest the withdrawal, and if he does, I will have to sue him to protect my copyright. Part of me hopes that he does reply, because then I will be able to find out his "real" name, and perhaps even obtain damages for the harm he has caused me.

The other part of me wishes that he had credited me as the creator of the work, and just talked "about" my book, maybe even linked to my website or to a sales platform. Then he could have gotten "affiliate" payments on each sale, referral fees, and so on. Instead he chose to steal. Now we have both "lost."

Here is the link to start the removal process of content that infringes your copyright.

http://support.google.com/bin/static....

Make sure that you carefully select the proper buttons, or they will reject the form. YouTube has its own form and process, and I submitted through them first, because the offending video had links to the "free" ebook, and you can use the evidence that you give YouTube to prove your claim of infringement to other parties, anyway.

Here is the link to YouTube's form:

http://support.google.com/youtube/bin...

Anyone who has experienced this type of infringement, please comment on this post, and tell us about your experience.

If anyone wants more specific information from me about dealing with YouTube and Google, post here, or message me privately, and while I am not an attorney, (and therefore do NOT give legal advice) I will be happy to share as much as I know with all who ask.