# My book pubished on Google Play without my authorization.



## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Here's a link to one of my books, which I found under my name when I published another book. It's a permafree published wide by me, but this outfit, IniAwesome, has put it on GP for $1.99.

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Al_Stevens_On_the_Street_Where_You_Die?id=_P9pBQAAQBAJ&hl=en

I sent feedback to GP's help center. I'll let you know what happens. You might want to check your own permafree books for something similar.


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

This is a time when being able to search by publisher would be very helpful. They are Google. Why are not all their metadata fields searchable?   (And yes, I have asked them why in the past on surveys.)

Thanks for pointing this one out and keeping us updated on their response!


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

It's still there and I've not heard from Google. The publisher name does not provide any google search hits.


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

Hmm, I got a few hits when I Googled it:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22iniawesome%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Looks like they've stolen a handful of books ... A Biography about Darwin, one about Steve Jobs ... and there's a blog that comes up in a foreign language. I went to Google Translate and it's a marketing blog in Indonesian.

I hope Google gets on this fast. Good luck!


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## ML-Larson (Feb 18, 2015)

So  much dodginess going around lately.  I tried to publish through Google once last year, but got stuck in "pending" forever, and then couldn't even cancel it.  I bet the book is still pending.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

If they ignore my complaint and don't take it down, I'll post a review telling readers that it's a bootleg copy and not to pay for it; it's free on all the other sites. That might pierce GP off, but I don't know what else to do.


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## Adam Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

Did you try Google Play's chat support? I've found them super helpful and have never waited more than 1 minute in the queue for a rep.


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## thewitt (Dec 5, 2014)

Send them a formal DMCA request.... They have to take it down within 24 hours or they are in violation of Federal law and subject to having their entire website shut down and fined $50K a day...


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## adammaxwell (Mar 1, 2015)

Same thing happened to me a while ago - I contacted Google and they acted pretty quickly and took off the pirated book. There wasn't a great deal of communication from them though!


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## MyraScott (Jul 18, 2014)

File a DMCA notice.  They have to take action. That's what the DMCA is really for, to protect our copyrights.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

They don't make it easy to find, but google has a DCMA infringement complaint form online. I just submitted it. We'll see how it goes.

If you need to find that form, search for "infringement" in the GP Help menu (the little ? icon in the upper right corner). Then follow their instructions.

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I was at a loss for what to do. I'll keep you advised on this thread. Isn't it a shame that we have to take time away from writing to deal with this kind of nonsense?


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

carinasanfey said:


> Al, would you like some of us to report it as plagiarised content? I'm more than happy to do that, just wanted to check with you first.


Thanks for the offer, and I might take you up on that if my DCMA notice doesn't work.


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## Kirkee (Apr 2, 2014)

Love the sepia covers, Al: The Rat Murders, White Collar Murders, et al.
Real nice. Are they fiction, or non? And who did the covers, if I may inquire?

Luck with the Google issue.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Kirkee said:


> Love the sepia covers, Al: The Rat Murders, White Collar Murders, et al.
> Real nice. Are they fiction, or non? And who did the covers, if I may inquire?


Thanks. It's a soft-boiled detective mystery series. I did the covers. Those are about the third set I've used for that series. I got lots of help with that design from KBoards too in one of those "please critique my crappy covers" threads.


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## SA_Soule (Sep 8, 2011)

One of my books is on there too for $1.99!!


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

I received a form acknowledgment of my DCMA notice. They said they receive "many such complaints each day," which reflects the pirate-industry encouragement of the Internet business model, and which is probably why their instructions for filing a notice are less than easy to find. They said that if they determine my notice to be valid and actionable, I'll hear from them. Otherwise, probably not.

Given that one of Sherry's books is similarly listed, I urge everyone to search Google Play books for your author name. That's how I found my book listed. I wonder what would have happened if I'd tried to publish the same title. I shudder to think.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Holy moly! I just opened the sample. It's a scan of the paperback! Looks like they stole if from Amazon's Look Inside and deleted all the copyrighted material notices in the upper and lower margins.


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## dianapersaud (Sep 26, 2013)

Did you file it with Google play or do a DMCA claim via Google?

This is part of a post on my website. (HOW TO EFFECTIVELY REPORT A COPYRIGHT VIOLATION http://wp.me/p44qaE-3v )

http://copyright.gov/onlinesp/list/a_agents.html

The website above is a government website. Under DMCA, websites need to register with the government to limit their liabilities when it comes to copyright violations. Websites are listed alphabetically. A quick way to find the specific company is to use the search function of your browser.

Once you find the company, click on it and a PDF file will open. EMAIL the company and let them know which website is infringing on your rights. You will have to provide documentation similar to when you file a GOOGLE DMCA claim. THIS is more effective than submitting a GOOGLE DMCA claim. I would do both, so there is a transparent record with GOOGLE.


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

dianapersaud said:


> This is part of a post on my website. (HOW TO EFFECTIVELY REPORT A COPYRIGHT VIOLATION http://wp.me/p44qaE-3v )


Bookmarked - many thanks. Hope I don't ever need to find it again!


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## Tyler Danann (Nov 1, 2013)

ML-Larson said:


> So much dodginess going around lately. I tried to publish through Google once last year, but got stuck in "pending" forever, and then couldn't even cancel it. I bet the book is still pending.


How do you even try? I can't find the option!


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

carinasanfey said:


> Any word from google yet, Al?


No, and the book is still listed. I'm checking Diana's procedure today to see about doing that too.


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## SawyerPentecost (Jul 11, 2013)

I would lead off with the google play chat as suggested above. If nothing else, they will be able to tell you how to escalate your complaint! Good luck!


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

SawyerPentecost said:
 

> I would lead off with the google play chat as suggested above. If nothing else, they will be able to tell you how to escalate your complaint! Good luck!


Do you have a link to google play chat? A google search doesn't turn up much that's helpful.


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## SawyerPentecost (Jul 11, 2013)

I was referring to the previous user that mentioned this option. I would imagine that it is in the support chat for google play. You should sign up for an account and then you will probably have access, though this is just a guess.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

I have a GP account. The Help section is less than helpful with respect to finding chats.


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## &#039; (May 24, 2011)

You can report copyright infringement here, Al:

https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2853570?hl=en-GB


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## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

You could also call the support: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/6179357?hl=en&ref_topic=3364672


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Shelagh said:


> You can report copyright infringement here, Al:
> 
> https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2853570?hl=en-GB


Thanks, Shelagh. I already did that. No response yet.


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## &#039; (May 24, 2011)

You could try phoning them, Al: (855) 836-3987


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

I heard from Google Play today. They've removed the look ahead and the price, but the listing is still there. I replied that the cover and description were also infringements, and that the whole listing needed to be taken down because I wanted to list the title under my own imprint.

We'll see.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Wow, this is taking a long time!   

Betsy


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

This is odd. Although the link still takes me to the listing without a preview or price, a search on my name or the book's title turns up nothing. It would appear that the listing has been taken away. The next test will be when I try to list the book myself with my imprint as the publisher. I'm almost afraid to try that.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Google Play has e-mailed me that they refuse to remove the bootlegged listing of my book.



> We have received your DMCA complaint. At this time, Google has decided not to take action based on our policies concerning content removal.
> 
> Please note that the metadata-only views displayed do not contain copyrighted pages from the books themselves - instead they show information about the book, similar to what you would find in a library's card catalog, including licensed ""metadata"" information such as the ISBN, author name, publisher and publication date, as well as search result information from public websites. Per Google's policy, we currently do not remove metadata-only results from the index, as this information is both legal to show and useful to our users.


This was my response:


> Your decision is wrong and illegal. The listing under the publisher IniAwesome is a bootleg. The cover art and description are copyrighted by me, and the publisher does not have rights to post them. Neither does Google Play.
> 
> https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Al_Stevens_On_the_Street_Where_You_Die?id=_P9pBQAAQBAJ&hl=en
> 
> That publisher does not have and has never had rights to publish my book. If I have not heard back from you within one week that you have reversed your decision and removed the book's listing from Google Play, my intellectual property lawyer will be contacting you with a schedule of costs incurred by me and damages resulting from your decision to refuse to honor my DMCA rights. You are in violation of US Copyright Law. You can avoid the cost and embarrassment of that violation by immediately removing the offending listing. All of it. Not just part of it.


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## TessOliver (Dec 2, 2010)

Hey Al,

Just so you know that you're not alone in this nightmare, I had a bunch of readers contact me about one of my books being on a page with a lot of other romance books. They are all bootlegged copies under one false publisher name. I've sent Google the DMCA complaint this morning. I haven't heard back but after seeing your last post, I don't have high hopes. Not sure how to stop all this craziness but it sure seems rampant now.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Best of luck.  I'm posting cause I want to follow this and must have missed the March Madness you encountered.  I love your response.  I can say that personally I had one issue with Google over a legal matter and they didn't care.  My guess is that anyone dealing with them will have to send a court order or something much more urgent (ie affecting their pocket book) in order to get their attention.

Regards,
SM


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Update: Following the protest I sent, Google Play has removed the book's listing completely. It took them a while, but they did the right thing. Sometimes it helps to complain loudly. Case closed.


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## dianapersaud (Sep 26, 2013)

Al Stevens said:


> Update: Following the protest I sent, Google Play has removed the book's listing completely. It took them a while, but they did the right thing. Sometimes it helps to complain loudly. Case closed.


I'm glad it worked, but it wasn't that you complained loudly, but the fact that you mentioned the Lawyer. They could get into SERIOUS trouble for not responding to a legitimate DMCA complaint and they don't need the bad reputation. IF authors became aware that GP was allowing pirated works, they would pull out and that would be the end of GP.

Their response to you was pretty foolish. I'm glad you told 'em!


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## wildwitchof (Sep 2, 2010)

I'm having the same problem with one of my titles and I've just filed the Google DCMA two days ago.  It's depressing to see you didn't have speedy resolution of the issue. Now I'm hunkering down for a fight.

My advice to everyone, on GP or not: go see if your books have been scanned/pirated and uploaded to Google Play. Since Google is so unresponsive, looks like this is going to happen more and more.

The last thing I want to deal with right now.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Gretchen, I think the best strategy is to persist. I had the feeling I was dealing with GP underlings who neither understood the issues nor my rights.


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## wildwitchof (Sep 2, 2010)

Just an update for the curious:

I filed my DCMA via Google's official form online and the offending title was removed without any further effort on my part. They also removed a second copy of the same book that was uploaded under a different name. It did take a little while -- at least a week -- but it worked.

I had registered the copyright with the US Gov, and I had a number for that copyright that I mentioned in the DCMA request, so that may have helped. Yay.

I see my books on pirate sites and that doesn't bother me like this does. Seeing one of my titles being sold on a major site without my consent, right on the shelf with the authorized ones, really bugged me. It's a huge relief it's been resolved. Thanks Google


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Today I received this e-mail from the google removal team. That makes it official. I urge other authors to search Google Play for unauthorized listings of your books and to take similar action if you find any.

I'm glad this is over.

_____________________________________
Hello,

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have completed processing your infringement notice. We are in the process of disabling access to the content in question at the following URL(s):

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Al_Stevens_On_the_Street_Where_You_Die?id=_P9pBQAAQBAJ&hl=en

The content will be removed shortly.

Regards,
The Google Team


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Way to hang in there Al!  Taking one for the team, hehe!


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## Cheyanne (Jan 9, 2013)

The same thing is happening with me. Someone uploaded my books to Google Play Canada, which I can't see from the USA, but my friend in CA sent me all the links and screen shots. I reported them all over a week ago and haven't heard anything yet. 

If you have friends in other countries, it'd be a good idea to have them check for your books.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Cheyanne, they are insistent that you follow the guidelines for the DMCA notice to the letter. Otherwise they ignore it. Keep us advised.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Al Stevens said:


> Update: Following the protest I sent, Google Play has removed the book's listing completely. It took them a while, but they did the right thing. Sometimes it helps to complain loudly. Case closed.


Case closed?

Have you inquired about the royalties, if any, of the books they illegally sold?


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Andrew Ashling said:


> Have you inquired about the royalties, if any, of the books they illegally sold?


No, I haven't nor do I plan to. If GP wants to recover anything they might have paid the would-be publisher, that's up to them. I have the book listed perma-free at all the other sites.


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## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

This is starting to get more coverage. I know Scalzi tweeted about one of his books. The big thing seems to be that Google is taking no action to stop it in general, even if they do take down a book in response to a DMCA. It's not even clear if they're taking any action against the pirate, as opposed to just the single book someone complains about.


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## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

I wonder if they bought a legit copy on Google Play, then used that to sell on the site.  Is there anyway of finding out? If so, I would not post future books on Google Play.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

PatriceWilliamsMarks said:


> I wonder if they bought a legit copy on Google Play, then used that to sell on the site. Is there anyway of finding out? If so, I would not post future books on Google Play.


It wasn't available on GP. My guess is that they got the perma-free version from Amazon and posted it with a price on GP.


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