HOW TO COMBAT BOOK PIRACY

How You Can Combat Astrology Book Piracy
©8/24/09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

Pirated copies of hard copy books and original ebooks about astrology are appearing on free ebook sites throughout the internet, including those by many respected authors. Even books that were originally issued in hard copy format only aren’t safe from theft, because pirates laboriously scan books, page by page, and turn them into PDF files.

Book piracy is not only a personal loss; it’s a community issue that can have serious implications for the continued development of our field. It can discourage speakers and teachers from writing books in the first place, with the result that what they’ve learned in the course of their careers is lost to the field as a whole.

I’ve had both hard copy texts and ebooks pirated, and about 100,000 free copies have been downloaded over the past year. By trial and error, I’ve learned how to handle this problem effectively and wanted to pass the method on to colleagues who find their books on these sites. Below are the steps that have been most effective.

DON’T PANIC. Most free ebook sites have copyright compliance officers or other support staff that handle these issues, usually within a couple of days after your request. They may or may not care about the ethics of piracy, but they do want to avoid lawsuits. Approach them in a matter of fact way, rather than being accusatory, threatening, or demanding. Typically, you may feel fear, rage, grief, and indignation about what’s happening. Take time to vent these emotions privately but do not approach the support staff in that tone. These sites have hundreds—if not thousands—of files uploaded daily and do not have staff to verify individual copyrights, only those violations that are reported to them.

SEARCH THE SITE FOR ALL VERSIONS OF YOUR WORK: If one of your books is pirated, there’s a chance others will be uploaded as well. Look for the title as well as your name, and be aware that cagy pirates may shorten the title and misspell your name in order to fool the search engines.

MAKE A RECORD OF THE EXACT LINK(s) WHERE YOUR FILE(s) OCCUR.
You will need it for the copyright officer and also your own records so that you can go back and check to see if the file has been removed. To have an exact link, send yourself an email with it and cut and past the link. (You can also send yourself a copy of the full page, with the date uploaded and number of copies. Keep that email for your records.)

DOWNLOAD A COPY: You might do well to download one copy of the PDF of each book that has been pirated—once the file is removed, you have no proof it was ever there. (The file could also come in handy if that book were ever to go out of print—you might as well get something from the pirate’s handiwork!)

FIND THE SITE’S COPYRIGHT OFFICER: Look at the top, bottom, or side of the page for the link--often in very small print--that says something like copyright policy, copyright protection, removal requests, report violations, or report abuse. Read the policy carefully to learn the procedure.

COLLECT AND SAVE THE REQUIRED INFORMATION: Cut and paste a record of all the information requested, or send yourself a blind copy of the email, including the date of the request. Save it. You will need to return to the site in a few days and from time to time to make sure the file has been removed and that no other copies have been uploaded. Pirates are tricky and very determined.

VISIT THE PROFILE OF THE PERSON WHO UPLOADED THE FILE: This is usually on a link on the same page of the site as the file, though the name is usually a screen name. Include the link with that person’s screen name when you write to the copyright officer. I like to read the profile and sometimes decide to send a message to them. Many are well-meaning but naïve people who do not understand that they are passing along stolen material. I often write to those people, and many of them are chagrinned and promptly remove all the ebooks they aren’t sure are legit.

Others are defiant rebels who consider themselves heroes, and you’re better off not triggering their alert system. If I see that the person has uploaded dozens or even hundreds of files, this is clearly a career pirate. If you report them with proof of the piracy, some sites will remove every one of that offender’s uploads and will ban them from the site. By reporting them, you aren’t just handling your own problem, you’re doing a favor to other authors the thief has victimized.

SEND A NOTE TO THE COPYRIGHT OFFICER: Again, be reasoned and polite, not threatening legal action. They don’t need or want to read about your emotions, and emoting does seem to slow down their response time. What they generally need is proof that you’re the author and copyright owner and that you did not authorize the file. If it was actually copyrighted it through the government copyright office, say so and provide a number if possible. Send yourself a copy of the note also. Here’s a format that generally works well:

For a hardcopy book: “I am ______________, the author and copyright owner of ________________ published in hardcopy by ___________ in (date). A pirated version has been uploaded to your site without my knowledge or permission by ___________ (link to the member who uploaded the file). The book appears at this link on your site: ________________________ and I note that _________ unauthorized free copies have already been downloaded. The book is for sale on my website at __________________ (or the publishers website or on Amazon.com). Let’s work together to get this file removed. You may write to me at ______________.



For an ebook: “I am ______________, the author and copyright owner of the ebook ________________ published by ___________. A pirated version has been uploaded to your site without my knowledge or permission by ___________ (link to the member who uploaded the file). The ebook appears at this link on your site: ________________________ and I note that _________ unauthorized free copies have already been downloaded. The book is for sale on my website at __________________ (or other site where the book is sold on the web). Let’s work together to get this file removed. You may write to me at ______________.


FOLLOW UP: Go back to the site in a few days to see if the file has been removed, and also use the site’s search engine to make sure it hasn’t been reloaded by someone else or the same person with a new screen name. If it hasn’t been removed in a week, write to the copyright officer again with the original date and information. Ask if there’s anything more they need from you as proof of your claim, and again, say, “let’s work together to remove this file.” Bookmark and revisit the site again periodically.


NOTIFY YOUR PUBLISHER: If you need the big guns to get a file removed, write to the Rights Department of your publisher, who will probably pass it along to the chief. Try removing it yourself first for expediency’s sake, then report it. Mine was responsive the first time, but once the file had been uploaded a few times, I believe it left him with the impression that I was more trouble than I was worth. Here, again, emotionality will not serve you!


SCAN THE WEB PERIODICALLY FOR NEW UPLOADS. Once your book has been pirated and uploaded to a free ebook site, there’s a great possibility the pirate or someone else will upload it elsewhere. There are hundreds of such sites, so brew up a pot of caffeine before tackling it. The format that is the most productive at Google or another search engine is: “Your Name” + “free ebook”.


CHECK THE MAJOR FREE EBOOK SITES: Below are some of largest sites that carry free ebooks. Check their on-site search engines for your works:
scrbd - download free pdf
4shared.com - free file sharing and storage
www.torrenthub.org
Torrent Reactor - The most active torrents on the web
ExtraTorrent.com The World's Largest BitTorrent System
Torrent hub Torrent Downloads - NowTorrents
Http www pdf database com - .Pdf & Word Free Ebooks Download


Please remember, these sites do not condone piracy, and all of them have copyright compliance officers. It is simply a service that many authors use to distribute valuable information and also to promote their work through legitimate free ebooks. You will also find classic texts by long-dead authors whose valuable work should be preserved.


SET UP A GOOGLE ALERT: This was suggested by the copyright compliance officer at one of the sites, and it has been a help. Create an alert that says “Your Name” + “free ebook” or, even better, if you’ve published only one book, use “Your Name” +”title of your book,” +“free ebook”.


Just don’t rely on Google alerts alone. They don’t catch everything, can be somewhat tardy in reporting to you and can yield many false positives. For instance it may send you a notice about any site that contains both your name and the words “free ebook,” even if the book isn’t yours. Every time I mention one of my ebooks on my own blog, I get an alert, but for the times it’s reporting a real piracy, it’s worth it.


ADD A COPYRIGHT WARNING TO YOUR EBOOKS AND WEBSITES: It may not deter the career pirate, but it will make the casual copier think twice about the seriousness of piracy:


The FBI Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.


WHAT IF THE BOOK IS OUT OF PRINT? It doesn’t matter—you still have the right to request the free ebook be removed. If the book is out of print for a year, under a standard contract, you can and should get the rights back from the publisher to create a new edition of your own—AND also to deal with situations like these. Don’t allow your book to become what is called an “Orphan Book,” free game for scanning. See: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/06/15/google-to-adopt-millions-of-orphan-books-put-them-to-work?icid=sphere_wpcom_inline.


BE PERSISTANT: Keep at it, even though it’s a major drag. I once was so fed up with the battle that I spaced it out for a couple of months. When I returned to the fray, I found that one of my books had been uploaded and in one month’s time, had over 38,000 free downloads of a $15 ebook. An expensive lesson!


NOTIFY COLLEAGUES WHOSE BOOKS YOU FIND ON THESE SITES: It’s not only a service to them and to your field, you may also be able to join forces to keep an eye on these sites and share tips about how to approach the copyright officers. Also write to your organizations’ newsletters to alert others to the fact that this is occurring and that it is NOT okay. Again, avoid being overly emotional—it turns off possible supporters.


FIND OUT WHAT PROFESSIONAL AUTHORS ARE DOING ABOUT PIRACY. If piracy becomes a persistent issue in your life and is affecting your income, you may want to join forces with mainstream writers. Here are two Yahoo writers’ groups that are joining forces to grapple with this issue: AACT - Authors Against Copyright Theft and AAET - Authors Against e-Book Theft.


RESOURCES: Websites about copyright issues stemming from internet sites:
To detect website content plagiarism, see: http://copyscape.com/respond.php.
Copyright on the Internet - http://www.fplc.edu/tfield/cOpyNet.htm
Copyright information for internet authors and artists.
Intellectual Property Online - http://www.eff.org/issues/intellectual-property
An exhaustive list of annotated links to patent, trademark and copyright information from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Copyrighting Basics on the Internet - http://www.fplc.edu/tfield/copynet.htm
Outline of the fundamental copyright principles applicable on the internet, by a Franklin Pierce Law Center professor Thomas G. Field, Jr..
(For a longer list of sites addressing copyright issues, see the Google Directory:
http://www.google.ru/Top/Society/Law/Legal_Information/Intellectual_Property/Copyrights/)
wikiHow articles: How to Copyright a Book How to Avoid Copyright Infringement


About the Author: Donna Cunningham is an internationally-respected author of books, articles, and columns about astrology, flower essences and other metaphysical topics. Her insights reflect her dual background in astrology and psychotherapy. She has a Master’s degree in Social Work from Columbia University and over 40 years of experience. Her ebooks and writing courses can be found at Moon Maven Publications (http://www.moonmavenpublications.com) and her blog about astrology, metaphysics, and writing is at http://skywriter.wordpress.com.

REPOSTED WITH PERMISSION FROM DONNA CUNNINGHAM.
PHOTO CREDIT: beverlysiy@gmail.com

Japan and Denmark Sign Repertoire Exchange Agreements with FILCOLS

The Philippines recently signed bilateral agreements that will allow the licensing and collection of fees for the reproduction of copyrighted works from Japan and Denmark.


The Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, Inc. forged the agreement with the Japan Academic Association for Copyright Clearance (JAACC) and Copydan. It happened during the Senior Managers Forum in Copenhagen held last 9-10 February 2011.


FILCOLS is the national reproduction rights organization (RRO) of the country. Bilateral agreements allow RROs to expand their repertoire of works. This means that the works carried by FILCOLS is now part of the works carried by JAACC and vice versa.


FILCOLS, JAACC, and Copydan are members of the Brussels-based International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO).


“This agreement empowers us to visit language schools teaching Nihongo and to collect fees for the photocopying of Japanese works for the use of their students,” said Alvin J. Buenaventura, FILCOLS executive director, during the signing of the agreement with Dr. Yutaka Noma, JAACC executive director.


With Buenaventura was Atty. Javier P. Flores, FILCOLS legal counsel, who participated in the meetings with senior officers of the American and British RROs regarding bilateral agreements.


Anders Kristian Rasch, Copydan's managing director, signed the agreement with FILCOLS at their company office in Bryggenvangen, Copenhagen.


FILCOLS is supported by the National Book Development Board, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, Book Development Association of the Philippines, and the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas.


Since becoming a member of IFRRO in 2009, FILCOLS signed bilateral agreements with the RROs of Australia, Argentina, Colombia, India, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago.


Written by Alvin J. Buenaventura

Post- event FILCOLS IP in the Age of Jejemon at the Global City

FILCOLS held its third IP in the Age of Jejemon lecture at the AVR, Global City Innovative College, 3rd Floor, Bonifacio Technology Center, 31st Street corner 2nd Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City last 14 January 2011.

Almost two hundred individuals graced the event. Some were GCIC faculty. Most were students coming from Nursing and Business Administration courses.

The event started with National Anthem. Then Professor Joan Lugti went on with an opening prayer.

Then Professor Jayson Bergania formally welcomed everyone to the event. The crowd cheered when Professor Bergania announced that the students may talk in Filipino during the question and answer portion. GCIC has an English-only policy.


He was followed by Professor Evangeline Tobias, the Academic Affairs Coordinator, who gave her welcome remarks as well. She introduced Alvin Buenaventura, the resource speaker.

Alvin Buenaventura, the executive director of FILCOLS, presented some powerpoint slides about the connection of the Philippine economics, intellectual property, copyright, education and academic publishing.

He delivered the lecture in Filipino to make intellectual property concepts and issues less agonizing and intimidating for the Filipino students. He peppered the lecture with anecdotes and jokes. The audience had fun listening to even the most difficult concepts in Intellectual Property.

After the lecture came the questions.

A faculty member asked what are the provisions of IP code when it comes to photocopying of books.

Buenaventura replied that there are three steps to take so one will know if a photocopying activity is legal or not:

1. if it's for non-profit use
2. if the part that is being photocopied is not the "heart" of the book
3. if it doesn't unjustly affect the economic benefits of the copyright holder.

A student named Isagani Quidilla asked if plagiarism or copyright infringement is committed when one is doing a research to prove a theory for example "all heavenly bodies are made of cheese" and then someone from another school, place or country is also doing a research about it to prove the same exact theory. He added that both of the researchers didn't have any idea of each other's existence.

Buenaventura gave an example. He stated a theory about cosmology that contains names of two people. According to him, it was named after them because it turned out that both observed a heavenly body at the same time but from different places. They also published articles about their findings almost at the same time. They didn't know each other and yet they were very fascinated with one heavenly body and a theory. He added that it's possible that two researchers or writers from two different cultures or places come up with strikingly identical scientific or literary work.

He stressed though that it is very important to publish own works even if one is still a student. This will help inform others what has already been written or researched about.

Jade Yves asked if downloading movies from the internet is wrong.

Buenaventura said if its for one's own personal use, it is okay. But when shared to others, even if no money is involved, it is already considered wrong.

Paolo Ramirez shared an anecdote he heard from his relative where a person was asked to pay KFC a certain amount because of singing the Happy Birthday song in a celebration inside its area.

Buenaventura said that it shouldn't be the person who must pay a certain amount to KFC. It should be the KFC if it is using songs that are under copyright to entertain dining customers.

It's possible that the payee will be FILSCAP (Filipino Society of Authors and Composers), the collective management organization in the Philippines for music-related works. If the copyright owner of the Happy Birthday song is part of the repertoire that is being carried and represented by FILSCAP, the entity that uses it must pay a certain amount to FILSCAP.

There were not enough time to tackle all of the questions from the audience. Bergania, the moderator of the event, invited everyone to send queries to FILCOLS through email.

Then, Beverly Siy, Executive Officer of FILCOLS, gave the closing remarks and acknowledged the individuals who made the event possible: GCIC's Engineer Michael Tan, President, Dr. Carolina P. Danao, VPAA, Evangeline Tobias, Academic Affairs Coordinator and Jayson Bergania, assistant of the president, who did the coordination in the early phase of event planning.

FILCOLS’ IP in the Age of Jejemon aims to help the students be aware of what they can do for the country through respect for IP. The first lecture was held in University of Santo Tomas. The second one was held in Ateneo de Naga University.


FILCOLS receives support from the Norwegian Copyright Development Association (NORCODE) and Kopinor. NORCODE is an international copyright development group funded by five copyright societies namely KOPINOR, GRAMO, TONO, BONO and NORWACO. KOPINOR is the reproduction rights (RRO) of Norway while FILCOLS is the RRO of the Philippines.

FILCOLS encourage the heads of the universities and colleges to hold similar events in their respective campuses. It will help develop more responsible members of the academe, students, professors, scholars and writers.

FILCOLS is open to invitations and proposals in and outside of Metro Manila. Send queries to filcols@gmail.com.

Written by Beverly Siy. You are welcome to repost or include this in any publication provided that the writer/copyright owner gets credit. Thank you.

Post-event-Nov. 11, 2010-Kapihan sa Copyright

Beverly Siy, the Executive Officer of Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, attended a dialogue with fellow copyright owners and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines on copyright law reforms. It was held last November 11, 2010 in International Academy of Management & Economics, Metropolitan Ave. corner Paseo de Roxas, San Antonio Village, Makati.

Participants were given a chance to address the conflicting issues of piracy and right to information, tackle the issue of plagiarism and simultaneous inspiration, sharing over the web, and to what extent can the government and the law work in the interest of Filipino creativity.

It was organized by IAME and IPOPHL.

Photo courtesy of Atty. Mark Robert Dy.

HOW TO BE A FILCOLS Member-FOR AUTHORS & PUBLISHERS

It's so easy!

1. Just email us and we will send you the membership form. There is no membership fee.
2. Fill out the form and send it back to us. Don't forget to include your updated CV.
3. Wait for the confirmation letter from FILCOLS.

>>>> filcols@gmail.com

Join us. Just be sure that you have published works, okay?

Independent publishers are welcome as well.

Buhay na Titik: Copyright at ang Principle of Automatic Protection

ni Alvin Buenaventura ng FILCOLS

Copyright at ang Principle of Automatic Protection


Paglabas ng umiiyak na sanggol sa sinapupunan ng kanyang ina, siya ay ganap na tao na, may karapatan at binibigyang-proteksiyon ng batas.

Ang birth certificate ay pagpapatunay na ipinanganak siya ng kanyang ina sa nasabing lugar at petsa. Nakasaad din sa sertipiko kung sino ang kanyang ama, kung sino ang nagpaanak at iba pang detalye.

Kailangan ang birth certificate sa enrolment ng bata, pagkuha ng mga ID at importanteng dokumento mula sa gobyerno tulad ng passport.

Pero hindi kailangan ang birth certificate para patunayang tao nga ang sanggol. Hindi kailangan ang papel para ipaglaban ang karapatan ng isang bata. Hindi kailangan ang papel para siya maproteksiyunan ng batas.

Ang papel ay certificate of birth. Hindi certificate of humanity.

Ang halimbawang binanggit ang gusto kong ikabit pagdating sa copyright ng mga akda. Ayon sa Principle of Automatic Protection na ikalawa sa Berne Convention, ang lahat ng akda at gawa ay nagkakaroon ng automatic protection matapos itong malikha.

Ang automatic protection na ito ay tinatawag na copyright. Ibig sabihin matapos ang huling pangungusap sa iyong nobela o maikling kuwento, may copyright na agad ito. Parang magic.

Ganito rin ang magic matapos ang huling pahid ng pintura sa iyong nilikhang painting. Pati na sa huling nota na iyong kinompows na love song o huling taludtod na iyong isinulat sa sariling tula. Automatic ang copyright. Parang magic.

Sapagkat katulad ng sanggol, ang iyong akda o gawa ay isang kumpletong expression of ideas na may karapatan at kailangang bigyan ng proteksiyon. Hindi na kailangan ng papel o anumang dokumento.

E, ano ‘yong papel na binibigay ng National Library matapos mo dalhin ang iyong akda sa kanilang opisina?

Ang tawag sa papel na ‘yon ay certificate of registration. Hindi certificate of copyright. Ibig sabihin ang iyong akda o gawa ay na-isubmit sa kanila at nakarehistro sa kanilang talaan.

Hindi ka bibigyan ng sertipiko para sabihing “ikaw na may akda ay may copyright sa iyong libro” o kaya “ikaw ang may likha ay may copyright sa iyong painting.” Kakambal ng iyong paglikha o pagtatapos sa iyong likha ang pagkakaroon mo ng karapatan dito bilang creator. Sa madaling sabi, automatic ang copyright. At automatic din ang proteksiyon.

Kaya pag narinig mo ang biyenan mong pupunta siya sa National Library para magpa-copyright ng libro niya, ibigay mo ang artikulong ito para maliwanagan siya. ‘Wag mong pagtawanan ang biyenan mo dahil alam naman nating wala naman talaga siyang librong naisulat. Pangarap n’ya lang ‘yon. Wish niya lang.

Inaanyayahan ang authors, publishers o tagapagmana ng copyright ng mga yumaong authors na sumali sa FILCOLS para mabigyang-proteksiyon ang kanilang mga gawa. Wala pong membership fee. Sapat nang mayroon kayong published works (para sa mga author) at nasa inyo ang kapangyarihang mag-manage ng published works kung heirs kayo ng author. Kung may tanong hinggil sa tinalakay na paksa, mag-email lamang sa filcols@gmail.com.

Para sa Buhay na Titik, kolum ng FILCOLS sa pahayagang Responde Cavite ngayong 9 Pebrero 2011

FILCOLS @ PASAP event

Alvin Buenaventura, the Executive Director of Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, will give a presentation about reproduction rights organizations, copyright, writing and publishing on 28 February 2011 at the Conference Rooms 3 and 4, Social Sciences Building, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

This event is organized by the Philippine Association of Scholarly and Academic Publications headed by Dr. Luisa Camagay of UP Press.

The event starts at 2:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Ateneo Press at 4265984 and look for Ann.