# Fraudulent DMCA notice filed against my book



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Hi, everyone. Despite having stuck around Kboards for three years or so, I don't have a whole lot of threads to my name. I'm more of a responder than a starter, I guess. But this seemed worth putting out there.

On Saturday, someone filed a 100% fraudulent DMCA take-down notice against _Nolander_ with Amazon and Smashwords, which promptly blocked the book. Sending in my official U.S. copyright registration materials has done nothing to resolve the situation. Both retailers' position is that I and the DMCA complainant have to send in our written permission before _Nolander _can be made available again.

I wrote the whole story up as a blog post, including how I discovered for sure that this is some kind of scam. It's sort of long because there was a bit of detective work involved: http://the-active-voice.com/2015/03/01/nolander-blocked-at-amazon-and-smashwords/

The TLR is that someone can apparently just fabricate a claim of copyright infringement and send it on in, and that's that. I'm preparing a DMCA counter-notice, but I have no idea whether or not it will have any effect. Neither Amazon or Smashwords mentioned counter-noticing as a possible remedy. It's scary. Really scary.

***

Updating March 5 with the latest. What I sent to KDP a few days ago:



> Dear (Rep's Name),
> 
> Thank you for prompt response, and for your assistance with this matter. I appreciate Amazon's careful attention to copyright issues.
> 
> ...


What I just got:



> Hello,
> 
> I'm so sorry, but we can't offer any additional insight or action on this matter. We are unable to provide you with legal advice. For any specific questions you have about your publishing rights, we recommend you consult an attorney or copyright law professional.
> 
> ...


So, there's the answer to that question: Amazon does not consider itself legally bound by the DMCA counter-noticing provision.

***

A final update (March 10), for anyone coming upon this thread in the future: Amazon did agree to restore _Nolander_. It took an email to Jeff Bezos ([email protected]) to reach people high enough up in the company to get personalized attention. So, it all worked out well for me.

If something like this happens to you, please bump this thread to let the Writers' Cafe know about it. Indie authors may remain vulnerable to this kind of scam. Hopefully Amazon will be adjusting its DMCA-related policies, but we'll have no way to know whether or not they've done that until the person's experience.

ETA: Links to other possible/proven copyright attacks: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,224280.0.html (added October 19, 2015); http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,226272.0.html (added November 16, 2015)


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## EthanRussellErway (Nov 17, 2011)

That is scary!  Good luck on getting this resolved.  It seems like the retailers would be more willing to try and help out with something like this.


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## Davina Hart (Jun 16, 2014)

Wow!  I read your blog post.  That is insane!!

There is nothing stopping anyone from doing this to anyone's books and then blackmailing them in order to get the books put back up.  Welcome to the new India/Nigeria scam.  Amazon will need to amend their policies because I see this as something that could get out of hand.


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## KGGiarratano (Aug 14, 2013)

I do not understand how retailers can just wipe their hands of this. How on earth are you to resolve it if the complainant is lying? I hope this gets resolved quickly.


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

That's horrible! I am so sorry. What a scary situation. I hope everything works out for you. Please keep us posted.


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## ArchangelEST (Jan 19, 2015)

Seems like a case where you might be better off getting professional legal consulting if Amazon doesn't remedy this in a few days/week tops.

I'd consider a law-suit against this fraudulent complaint, and the person who made it, because it has and continues to cause you financial losses and personal stress. Of-course, a disturbingly large up-front investment might be required for legal services. But if the chance of winning and having the other person be forced to pay for the costs, is high enough, then I'd pursue it.

If I had the money, I'd pursue legal action on principle.

Sick people. I've done some time, reading posts in the Warrior forum and other Internet Marketing places where Black Hat methods are common and it's sickening what some people will resort to. These days, when someone with Web skills develops a grudge against you, you can lose almost everything. They can take down your websites, your services, get you banned from digital stores and retailers etc. And they can make it appear as if it's your fault and that you're crazy...

Most people do not either have the resources to fight back or they just don't have the energy/knowledge how to do so.

Stay strong and don't give up until this injustice is solved.


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## Allyson J. (Nov 26, 2014)

I too read your blog post. This is terrifying! I'm so sorry you're having to go through this.


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

I just read your whole blog post. How awful. Why would the scammer want to do this? What do they think they're going to gain?

I second the idea to talk to legal counsel.


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## jimbro (Jan 10, 2014)

The DMCA was written by Hollywood lobbyists to provide them with a tool to block sites they don't like (putatively, sites hosting illegal movie downloads, but in practice: anything) without having to go through normal due processes like courts and trials. Note that in their DMCA complaint they swore under penalties of perjury that your work was infringing. Note also, that despite many other false DMCA takedown notices, _*no one has ever been prosecuted for committing perjury in a DMCA notice*_. Look up the provisions of the TPP (trans-pacific partnership) treaty being fast-tracked (this week) through congress: It is even worse/better (depending on your perspective).


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

HAGrant said:


> I just read your whole blog post. How awful. Why would the scammer want to do this? What do they think they're going to gain?
> 
> I second the idea to talk to legal counsel.


My guess is that they're going to hold her book hostage, so to speak. This s***weasel will offer to work things out with the "other" s***weasel ... for a fee. He/she/it is hoping Becca will pay up.

Edited to add: Good luck, Becca. I don't know if this will help, but if you keep track of your website's metrics, you should be able to correlate the time this s***weasel visited your website with the comment they initially left. That will, at least, give you an IP address (possibly not their real one, but still ... This is clearly someone not very bright; you've caught them out with one screw-up already.)


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## Reaper (Nov 5, 2013)

That's awful. I think legal advice is the only option here. Please keep us all updated, and know that plenty of people are rooting for you.


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## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

Ugh, that's terrible. I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this.  Another vote for talking to a lawyer. 

Good luck!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks for the support, everyone! Like I said, it's scary. Just knowing people are rooting for me is great. 



SevenDays said:


> I don't know if this will help, but if you keep track of your website's metrics, you should be able to correlate the time this s***weasel visited your website with the comment they initially left. That will, at least, give you an IP address (possibly not their real one, but still ... This is clearly someone not very bright; you've caught them out with one screw-up already.)


Great thought, SevenDays, thanks! He commented on my blog from two different IP addresses. I'll send them along to Amazon and Smashwords. Whether one of them will line up with the IP addresses from which he sent the DMCA notices ... dunno. Seems too much to hope for, but maybe!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Thank you for thinking of community in the middle of such a frightening experience. This is eye opening for a lot of us. Good luck, Becca.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Rick Gualtieri said:


> Ugh, that's terrible. I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. Another vote for talking to a lawyer.
> 
> Good luck!


Thanks, Rick. I figure a lawyer comes next, if I can't resolve the problem with the DMCA counter-notices. I'm very fortunate in having legal insurance through my day job. I opted into it just in case of something like this.

If there's one thing this experience brings home to me, it's that indie authors are _vulnerable_. That's one thing you get in exchange for lower royalties in traditional publishing: a pack of IP lawyers hiding under your book's covers.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

That is so scary and terrible. I am very sorry. I hope it gets resolved soon.


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## Sever Bronny (May 13, 2013)

Becca, if this doesn't get resolved soon, if I were you, I'd seriously consider approaching the press. Start with the NYT and work downwards. Could be a story they'd be interested in doing.

Got my fingers crossed for you!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks, Rosalind and Sever. 

Here's a rather alarming article on this issue, forwarded to me by a friend: http://www.dbllawyers.com/2014/11/help-my-seller-account-has-been-disabled/

TLR: There's generally no way to get your content back up other than negotiating with the original DMCA complainant and getting them to withdraw their complaint.


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## J.A. Cipriano (May 27, 2014)

This is one of the scariest things I've read in a long time. I hope it gets fixed for you soon. It's unfortunate because it sounds like there's nothing you can do preemptively...


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2015)

This is absolutely disgusting. It could happen to any of us. Amazon need to pull their head in.


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## Razor (Mar 1, 2015)

There used to be a lot of DMCA takedowns on youtube. As far as I remember, if someone files a fraudulent DMCA takedown notice, they can be sued. If you want, you may be able to issue a statement stating your intention to take legal action for a fraudulent DMCA notice and ask the retailer to pass it on to whoever issued the DMA. If they have nothing to substantiate their claim, they can get in trouble

Hope it goes well!


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## Sever Bronny (May 13, 2013)

Razor said:


> There used to be a lot of DMCA takedowns on youtube. As far as I remember, if someone files a fraudulent DMCA takedown notice, they can be sued. If you want, you may be able to issue a statement stating your intention to take legal action for a fraudulent DMCA notice and ask the retailer to pass it on to whoever issued the DMA. If they have nothing to substantiate their claim, they can get in trouble
> 
> Hope it goes well!


This is a good idea. Go for the jugular immediately. Mention it's depriving a livelihood, etc etc.


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## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

What a shocker of a thing for someone to do. I wonder if there is a way of legally claiming our books after we write them, so that DMCAs couldn't be issued - and if there isn't, there should be.


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## pagegirl (Feb 3, 2014)

I'm so sorry this happened. It's horrifying. Again, keep us posted!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

A.A said:


> What a shocker of a thing for someone to do. I wonder if there is a way of legally claiming our books after we write them, so that DMCAs couldn't be issued - and if there isn't, there should be.


Heh. You'd think the official copyright-filing process offered here in the U.S. would be just that, A.A. I can show this ...



> Type of Work:	Text
> Registration Number / Date:	TXu001803413 / 2012-03-29
> Application Title:	Nolander.
> Title:	Nolander.
> ...


... but apparently that ain't enough.


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## A past poster (Oct 23, 2013)

Becca,

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I read your blog. It's ugly beyond belief. I hope it gets resolved soon.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine the stress in dealing with that. I was stressed enough when someone on Wattpad accused me of stealing my novel from another author. We were in a box set which caused the confusion. Luckily that was easily fixed. 

Others in this thread have posted good ideas, and I think the one of taking it to the press is a good one.


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## Mr. Sparkle (Oct 8, 2014)

This is horrible, and I am so, so sorry you have to deal with this, Becca.

Everyone else, this is why it's risky to employ fiction ghostwriters without references or reviews. It's not like non-fiction, where company owners don't care if they didn't truly produce their copy. You have to find people by word-of-mouth and hope you won't be scammed or sued for something they do. Vigilance!


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Mr. Sparkle said:


> This is horrible, and I am so, so sorry you have to deal with this, Becca.
> 
> Everyone else, this is why it's risky to employ fiction ghostwriters without references or reviews. It's not like non-fiction, where company owners don't care if they didn't truly produce their copy. You have to find people by word-of-mouth and hope you won't be scammed or sued for something they do. Vigilance!


This sounds like you're saying Becca had her book ghostwritten. I hope you aren't saying that.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Stacy Claflin said:


> I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine the stress in dealing with that. I was stressed enough when someone on Wattpad accused me of stealing my novel from another author. We were in a box set which caused the confusion. Luckily that was easily fixed.
> 
> Others in this thread have posted good ideas, and I think the one of taking it to the press is a good one.


Thanks, Stacy! Yes, I remember your experience on Wattpad. That's why I originally assumed this was an instance of boxed-set-related confusion. If only it where that. 

I think the press idea is good, too, but I want to make sure I exhaust my reasonable options dealing with Amazon and Smashwords directly. I'm a huge fan of these retailers. They've enabled me to become a writer. So far, they've just been following their protocols. There's nothing wrong with those protocols so long as they're not followed mindlessly or rigidly.

And in fact, my DMCA counter-notice got a rapid, personal, and constructive response from Smashwords, so kudos to them!


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## kyokominamino (Jan 23, 2014)

So sorry to hear this happened to you. I hope they catch the bastard and he gets the full punishment for putting you through hell like this. Best of luck that the law is on your side and Amazon gets their crap straight asap.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Cherise Kelley said:


> This sounds like you're saying Becca had her book ghostwritten. I hope you aren't saying that.


LOL. Any self-respecting ghostwriter would've done a better job cleaning up the typos in that first draft. 

I think Mr. Sparkle was talking about the folks over on Warrior Forum who got taken in by my scammer.

ETA: Aaaand, just realized I can't link that image, because WHOA. But the image is in my blog post.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Back up at Smashwords! If I ever meet Mark Coker, I might have to hug him. Thanks, Smashwords -- you rock!


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## MT Berlyn (Mar 27, 2012)

What a horrifying thing to have happened to you...on so many levels. That this shadowy criminal actually feels _entitled_ to cause misery by this lie in hope to gain from it, I just can't wrap my brain around it. I really can't. And what I don't understand, is why the criminal actually has the upper hand.



Davina Hart said:


> Amazon will need to amend their policies because I see this as something that could get out of hand.


^^^Exactly^^^ It's like a bureaucracy of rules written in favor of the potential criminal act. And I agree, it will get out of hand. Amazon needs to inform the accuser that the claim must be backed up by specific data before taking any further action. The criminal should have to prove the accusation equal to the victim, just as the legitimate claim should be proven. And I don't understand why it is such a horrifying legal expense to prove one's work is one's own.

I hope this is resolved for you soon, Becca.


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## MT Berlyn (Mar 27, 2012)

Becca Mills said:


> Back up at Smashwords! If I ever meet Mark Coker, I might have to hug him. Thanks, Smashwords -- you rock!


Yay!!!!


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Keep escalating it at Amazon. Cite your blog post. If you get a canned response, write back that it wasn't good enough, that you want to talk to a person. Rinse and repeat. Stay polite, but be insistent.

Amazon will know that this happens. I can't imagine that they'll let the scammer get away with it.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks, everyone. 

On a friend's suggestion, I sent a message to Writer Beware about this scam. Maybe they can help spread the word.

Based on what the Smashwords rep said, I think I know how the scammer showed evidence of prior publication of the material in my book. Apparently, he pointed Smashwords to a 2011 blog post that contained material from _Nolander_ (which wasn't published until 2012). Now, blog posts don't strike me as a good form of evidence. For instance, when I revise one of my posts, the Wordpress platform doesn't add an "edited" line, the way Kboards' forum software does. The post just keeps the original date. I bet a lot of blogs work the same way. If so, it'd be very easy to use one of these platforms to "prove" prior making-public of someone else's writing: you'd just delete the contents of the original post and fill it up with someone else's book text. Then it'd look like you wrote the book yourself, years earlier.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

> you'd just delete the contents of the original post and fill it up with someone else's book text. Then it'd look like you wrote the book yourself, years earlier.


It's much easier than that if you know how to use these sites. You can back-date posts.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

C. Gockel said:


> It's much easier than that if you know how to use these sites. You can back-date posts.


Really ... ? Wow.


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## ML-Larson (Feb 18, 2015)

Becca Mills said:


> Really ... ? Wow.


Yep. It was a really popular way of not spamming your followers, back in the heyday of LiveJournal. A person would post a story, and publish the first live, and then simply backdate all the rest of the chapters to prevent having multiple posts with the exact same header content all in a row.


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## Bluebonnet (Dec 15, 2013)

What an awful situation!  I always trusted copyright to protect our work, but obviously it doesn't, if some black hat wants to mess with you.

I hope you can get this straightened out soon.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Glad to hear you're back up on Smashwords.   Now Amazon has to get their butt in gear. Best of luck to you. What a horrible situation.


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

Wow. Double wow!

If scammers applied even half of their brain power looking for new ways to save the world rather than scam it, it would be a whole new world.....


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## Dom (Mar 15, 2014)

Good thinking by documenting all this, and kudos for getting the word out. I'll read the whole blog post tonight for sure. I have a feeling this problem will get bigger before it gets better. I wish you luck.


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## S.R. Booth (Oct 6, 2013)

That's terrible. So sorry you are going through this!


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## Daizie (Mar 27, 2013)

On Blogger, you don't have to change a dated post that's already there. If he has comments, then you know that's what he did. But you can post-date a post to any date you want and it will pop in as an older post. 

So sorry this happened to you. Your superpower slueth skills are amazing though. Rock on. Hope you get it sorted out quickly. You have proof to show Amazon that this was all a scam.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Becca Mills said:


> Back up at Smashwords! If I ever meet Mark Coker, I might have to hug him. Thanks, Smashwords -- you rock!


Hooray! Good for you! You keep plugging. Don't let the bad guys win!


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## Gail Hart (Apr 11, 2014)

Becca - I read your blog post, and yes, your story is horrifying. I'm so glad Smashwords has done the right thing. Now if the Zon will just do the same...


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

It's scary to think this could be the new way a competitor comes after you.


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## Gone To Croatan (Jun 24, 2011)

katrina46 said:


> It's scary to think this could be the new way a competitor comes after you.


The DMCA is one of the worst-thought-out laws in recent years, unless you happen to be a big media company wanting to shut down someone's website. Many people pointed out at the time it was passed that it would lead to this kind of situation, but no-one involved in passing it cared.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Edward M. Grant said:


> The DMCA is one of the worst-thought-out laws in recent years, unless you happen to be a big media company wanting to shut down someone's website. Many people pointed out at the time it was passed that it would lead to this kind of situation, but no-one involved in passing it cared.


I imagine Amazon will have to get involved if it becomes a wide scale problem. I mean anyone could target one of their bestsellers at any time. You know they'd probably figure a big name would pay a price to get the book back because legal action takes too long.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Some scary stuff indeed, Only thing I can think of if he has your book removed then he can upload your book using a different title for it. That is just crazy!!

Becca when you get the book back on Amazon send me a pm here. I will give you some free ads, no one should have to go through what you are going through. I am sure your amazon rank will need a boost to get it back to normal. 

Good luck


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks for the support, everyone!

Yeah, it does seem like a system ripe for abuse, katrina46.

It must be a tough call for ebook retailers. I can see where Amazon and others wouldn't want to get into adjudicating copyright disputes. I can tell the Smashwords rep spent a lot of time on my case -- reading that whole super-long blog post, checking out the links, etc. (If you're reading this, Smashwords folks, _thanks again!_) If this happened frequently, retailers would have to hire more people to deal with it. And they couldn't just be random plug-in-a-form-letter types. They'd need to understand copyright laws and have the expertise to examine and weigh different kinds of evidence. Even then, I can imagine a well trained employee spending hours examining a case and *still* not feeling confident they know who's telling the truth. In the eyes of a retailer, that's wasted time, which equals wasted money.

But what's the alternative? For ebook retailers to become hunting grounds for scammers seeking to blackmail authors? To allow the DMCA to become a means of seeking revenge? A you-two-go-work-it-out approach invites just those sorts of behaviors.

I really don't know what the solution is, here.

Vinny, thank you ... what a kind offer!


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Well, that's a scary story. Hope it gets resolved soon, Becca. The retailers need to develop a better system for dealing with this kind of thing.


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## Midnight Whimsy (Jun 25, 2013)

I think there's a relatively simple solution. Retailers need to require the DMCA filer to provide their full contact information, and that should be provided to the author (or the retailer can act as a go-between). If the DMCA filer doesn't respond, the DMCA is discarded. As I see it, the problem is being unable to contact the DMCA filer. How am I supposed to sic my lawyer on the person without legit contact information? If a DMCA filer can't be contacted and/or doesn't respond and/or provides fake information, the DMCA should be tossed out as illegitimate.

If the DMCA doesn't work without the scammer providing legitimate contact information, I don't see it becoming a widespread issue. After all, casual scammers aren't going to be keen on being slapped with an immediate lawsuit.

Becca, so sorry this happened, and hope it can be sorted out soon! 

M.W


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

Becca, you might search your old email. Unless you did everything yourself, you might have old email proving that you dealt with a cover artist, formatter, editor, beta readers, etc. as you finalized your book. Those people might have records, too.

The main thing here is the blog argument. Since the dates can be changed and new material inserted in old posts, Amazon should never accept blog posts as proof of ownership. It would be good if you could get a statement from somebody at Blogger or whatever site it was saying that's a feature.


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2015)

If Amazon don't fix this for Becca, we as authors should unite and petition against it.


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## Shei Darksbane (Jan 31, 2015)

I absolutely agree with Midnight Whimsy's suggestion.

If this isn't solved in a timely manner, we need to launch a petition for Amazon to change their policies in that manner and spread it far and wide. 
I'll be on it if that happens. Keep us updated Becca! So so sorry this happened and thank you for letting us know!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks so much, everyone!

Arshness, I just noticed that your avatar is looking down at the writing-progress bar in your sig. I love it! Hilarious. 

Midnight Whimsy, DMCA-filers are required to give their real contact info, but if it's some address on the other side of the world, I don't know how Amazon would verify it. I'm trying to imagine someone at Amazon calling up some government office in some little town in India and demanding to know whether Person X is an official resident at Address Y. It just doesn't seem likely. And while it's true that my complainant didn't respond to my query (he was too busy responding to me as someone else!), he could've wriitten back and steadfastly maintained his claim. That'd still count as "responding."

HA, I agree that blogs are too vulnerable to abuse to be used easily as evidence in these situations. And yet, we all want our blogs copyright-protected, right? A lot of prolific writers are mainly bloggers. Their blogs are as important to them as our books are to us. But if blog posts can't be used as evidence of copyright infringement, then blogs can, in effect, be stolen from freely.

I don't know. The more I think about it, the more problems I see. It all seems unwieldy and impossible to fix.


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## Shei Darksbane (Jan 31, 2015)

Becca Mills said:


> Arshness, I just noticed that your avatar is looking down at the writing-progress bar in your sig. I love it! Hilarious.


You can thank my wife for that. There's a funny story behind that photo of me, but ultimately, when my wife saw the photo, she said "Make this your avatar on all your sites. Do it for me. It looks like you're smirking at your own post. You must." So I did this to please her. It's pleased me also.


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## dmaxwell (Jan 2, 2015)

Edward M. Grant said:


> The DMCA is one of the worst-thought-out laws in recent years, unless you happen to be a big media company wanting to shut down someone's website. Many people pointed out at the time it was passed that it would lead to this kind of situation, but no-one involved in passing it cared.


DMCA should have created an arbitration body. To issue a takedown notice you would notify the body, pay a $50 processing fee and post a $1,000 bond. If the site (or author, in Becca's case) wishes to challenge they would post their own $1,000 bond (yes, I know it sucks to post a $1,000 bond to defend your own work but keep reading). Then it goes to arbitration for review of evidence. Becca's copyright would win over a wonky blog post. The loser forfeits their bond. The arbitration body keeps half the forfeited bond and submits the other half to the winner. Becca keeps her $1,000 bond plus half the loser's bond. This would reduce false takedown notices to zero and keep the matter out of the courts except for high profile stuff between big media companies who have the money and lawyers to duke it out.


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## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

Becca Mills said:


> I really don't know what the solution is, here.


Hello Becca,

we discussed this over at Webfictionguide, and a couple of people said that Amazon has to put your book back up if you send them a notice proving the work is yours -in a very specific way-. I'm a little shocked the responses you got from Amazon didn't inform you about it. Apparently, just a counter notice isn't enough, it has to be filed in the right place. Unfortunately none of us could remember how to do it exactly, but I'll send you a PM if I learn more.

Good luck!


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## trublue (Jul 7, 2012)

I. So sorry. I would be so pissed and scared. Good luck. I hope it gets fixed ASAP.


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## No longer seen (Aug 17, 2013)

A US Copyright Office registration IS the legal record of who owns a copyright, at least in the US.
You cannot show any better proof. 

I'd be suing Amazon for ignoring it.

And the US Copyright Office for taking $35 under the fradulent pretext of protecting you from these 
situations.

This is like someone telling the police to evict you from your house because it's theirs, even though the
local land records display your name on the title -- and the police actually do throw you out.


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

I don't know if this will be any help, but is it possible the blog has a snapshot on the Wayback Machine? http://waybackmachine.org/

(It archives sites, and will let you see exactly what a certain page looked like at different times over the last few years. If it's a small blog it might not be captured, but it's worth a shot. If you can show the post had different content - or didn't exist - it could help your case.)


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

dmaxwell said:


> DMCA should have created an arbitration body. To issue a takedown notice you would notify the body, pay a $50 processing fee and post a $1,000 bond. If the site (or author, in Becca's case) wishes to challenge they would post their own $1,000 bond (yes, I know it sucks to post a $1,000 bond to defend your own work but keep reading). Then it goes to arbitration for review of evidence. Becca's copyright would win over a wonky blog post. The loser forfeits their bond. The arbitration body keeps half the forfeited bond and submits the other half to the winner. Becca keeps her $1,000 bond plus half the loser's bond. This would reduce false takedown notices to zero and keep the matter out of the courts except for high profile stuff between big media companies who have the money and lawyers to duke it out.


That would be acceptable, especially if all an author had to show was their copyright information. It would likely put a halt on all the authors who send DMCA notices to pirate sites, though.



Richard Stooker said:


> A US Copyright Office registration IS the legal record of who owns a copyright, at least in the US.
> You cannot show any better proof.
> 
> I'd be suing Amazon for ignoring it.
> ...


This is what I was thinking. What's the point of getting a copyright, if nobody is going to accept that as proof of authorship?

This is a big fail on Amazon's part (and other retail sites). We shouldn't have to sue people when the simple acceptance of a legal document would solve the issue.

What's up with those emails we read about people getting, asking for proof of ownership of a work? The author responds, "hey, my stuff, yo" and Amazon replies "kthnxbye", and nothing is ever heard from them again. Then we get something like what happened to Becca -- and who knows how many others this is going to affect, or what she's going to end up having to do to get the situation resolved -- and it's "yo, beotch, not r prob, fix it yo'self".

Becca, I'm so sorry this happened to you, and I hope Amazon comes through and gets the book back up. Maybe they will learn something from all of this. Thanks for writing the blog post, and for letting us know so quickly what's going on!

I'd probably be looking for a similar book to yours that gets published in the next few days, to see if the point was to upload your work under a different name. It wouldn't surprise me a bit, as one response on that awful WF was that the novel someone paid this "ghostwriter" had been uploaded on Literotica. Another reported paying a lot of money, which the "ghostwriter" had apparently absconded with.

In fact, links to that thread should probably be sent to Amazon, Smashwords, and all other ebook sites to show the connection with this person, as well as your blog post. I'd probably cross post to any writer's forum I was a member of, or could join, as a warning. Not every writer comes here, and many newbies could fall victim to some sort of scam (because I think the request for money would have been coming very soon), and have no idea what happened.


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## CJAnderson (Oct 29, 2014)

Becca Mills said:


> Thanks, everyone.
> 
> On a friend's suggestion, I sent a message to Writer Beware about this scam. Maybe they can help spread the word.
> 
> Based on what the Smashwords rep said, I think I know how the scammer showed evidence of prior publication of the material in my book. Apparently, he pointed Smashwords to a 2011 blog post that contained material from _Nolander_ (which wasn't published until 2012). Now, blog posts don't strike me as a good form of evidence. For instance, when I revise one of my posts, the Wordpress platform doesn't add an "edited" line, the way Kboards' forum software does. The post just keeps the original date. I bet a lot of blogs work the same way. If so, it'd be very easy to use one of these platforms to "prove" prior making-public of someone else's writing: you'd just delete the contents of the original post and fill it up with someone else's book text. Then it'd look like you wrote the book yourself, years earlier.


I use my Goodreads blog to write my books and Amazon recently rejected my latest pre-order submission for Beyond Ruinland. They said they found the same material freely available online. Not sure if it was copyright issue or the fact it was free. Either way I wrote them back explaining it was my personal blog and then my pre-order was suddenly approved the same day.


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## R. M. Webb (Jul 24, 2014)

Becca-

I'm so sorry this happened to you. How mystifying. Terrifying. Enraging. I'm glad Smashwords came through for you. Hopefully Amazon will follow suit soon. 

Oddly enough, I just began reading Nolander a few days ago and realized that Becca Mills character can write!


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## Owen (Aug 24, 2011)

This sounds similar to those crooks who install malware on your PC and then pop-up a number you can phone to "fix" it.


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## Ros_Jackson (Jan 11, 2014)

ShaneJeffery said:


> If Amazon don't fix this for Becca, we as authors should unite and petition against it.


Agreed. I'm not 100% sure whether it's the DMCA law at fault or the way Amazon are implementing it, but this seems ripe for abuse. If scammers can come in and file fraudulent notices without penalty it's going to cause chaos. Think of the implications for freedom of speech.


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

I so agree that you should send your blog post to national newspapers. I think they would be very interested. For one thing, the post is well written, well documented/researched and reads like part of a mystery/detective novel. It also has ramifications beyond indie book publishing. I'm so looking forward to seeing how this is resolved, hoping the bad guys getting their comeuppance and I have a strong feeling that you and your book are going to come out of this in a better position than you were before the whole thing started.

Chin up!

Philip


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## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

This sounds incredible. Especially as I haven't even considered filing copyright, having different laws here.


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

It does seem that having some sort of union or collective would help indies tremendously. A little organization and a pooling of some funds to cover lawyer fees if necessary might provide a little muscle when facing scammers.

And to have Smashwords and Amazon block your work without allowing you to face your accuser is ridiculous.
In a court of law this would be unacceptable (at least in these parts of the world).


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

Becca Mills said:


> Hi, everyone. Despite having stuck around Kboards for three years or so, I don't have a whole lot of threads to my name. I'm more of a responder than a starter, I guess. But this seemed worth putting out there.
> 
> On Saturday, someone filed a 100% fraudulent DMCA take-down notice against _Nolander_ with Amazon and Smashwords, which promptly blocked the book. Sending in my official U.S. copyright registration materials has done nothing to resolve the situation. Both retailers' position is that I and the DMCA complainant have to send in our written permission before _Nolander _can be made available again.
> 
> ...


Did you finally get this dirt bag kushal imprisoned for doing this to you?

Can't stand people who take time out of their day to do malicious things to innocent folks like yourself.


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## crow.bar.beer (Oct 20, 2014)

kalel said:


> Did you finally get this dirt bag kushal imprisoned for doing this to you?


Finally? She made this post yesterday.


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## Daniel Knight (Jul 2, 2013)

Becca, this is so horrible. I can't stand people who take advantage of others and there are few things worse than feeling powerless to fix a situation like that. I'm glad Smashwords got your book back up - hopefully Amazon follows along quickly.

I let Passive Guy know about your blog post. I figure the more people who know about this kind of abuse the more we can hopefully do to prevent it or push for changes to stop it.

I second what some others have said too. How is an official copyright registration not the silver bullet to handle this? That is absolutely ridiculous.


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## Mr. Sparkle (Oct 8, 2014)

Becca Mills said:


> LOL. Any self-respecting ghostwriter would've done a better job cleaning up the typos in that first draft.
> 
> I think Mr. Sparkle was talking about the folks over on Warrior Forum who got taken in by my scammer.


Yes, that is what I meant! Thank you, Becca. 

Someone else last year hired a ghostwriter who turned out to be a plagiarist and caused their client to lose their KDP account. I was trying to figure out why someone would do something so cruel to an author, and the only monetary gain I could think of besides blackmail was being able to use content without being challenged. It's far more likely the fraudster in this case is simply a troll or a blackmailer.

Glad your account is safe at Smashwords!

I agree that there's no higher proof than actually holding the copyright title. If that doesn't prove it, what does? There are specific (badly written) clauses in the DMCA that require Amazon to respond to your counter-claim, and it doesn't sound like they are following them. Try to talk to a supervisor. If all else fails, go to Consumerist.com, then media blogs. Email Jeff Bezos. Contact the national media.


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## J.A. Sutherland (Apr 1, 2014)

ReGina W said:


> We should do this as a preemptive measure because a blog post is never going to be reliable proof that content was created on a certain date. And certainly should never hold trump over a registered copyright.


This is where a real trade organization would come in handy. Not only to speak to the retail channels as a single, louder voice, but to provide legal support and advice.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

This is really scary. I keep old files of my books on my hard drive, but like you say in the blog - what's to stop someone copying and pasting some text?

Thank you for sharing, and I hope you get it sorted soon.


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## shalym (Sep 1, 2010)

ReGina W said:


> We should do this as a preemptive measure because a blog post is never going to be reliable proof that content was created on a certain date. And certainly should never hold trump over a registered copyright.


So, just out of curiosity, what is the process when filing a registered copyright? How do you prove that you wrote the book? What's to stop me from going to a blog, copying and pasting the content into a book, and filing for a copyright? (Just trying to turn this on it's head--would it be possible for someone to go to an author's website and take content from there and file a fraudulent copyright?)

Shari


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## crow.bar.beer (Oct 20, 2014)

shalym said:


> What's to stop me from going to a blog, copying and pasting the content into a book, and filing for a copyright?


Nothing, but the registered copyright is a higher order of proof of copyright than someone simply claiming they own the copyright and the party demonstrating the superior evidence _should_ be the one receiving the benefit of the doubt by Amazon.


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2015)

If authors don't get behind Becca here, and vocally support the need for a petition and then sign it, they are inevitably opening themselves up to the same dangers.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

> And to have Smashwords and Amazon block your work without allowing you to face your accuser is ridiculous.
> In a court of law this would be unacceptable (at least in these parts of the world).


The DMCA says that Amazon CAN put Becca's material up and be not held liable (in such a case, the accuser would have to take Becca to a court of law. Since they are in India, that seems unlikely.)

HOWEVER Amazon and Smashwords are not *REQUIRED* to do so. My guess is Amazon WILL put the material back up, BUT it will take some time. What Becca really needs is a PERSON at Amazon, in the legal department. If Rosalind, Hugh Howey, or some one else of that level knows anyone over there, that would be the biggest help.

My guess if this isn't resolved, it will quickly escalate into a scam that affects larger and larger numbers of us.


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## Carradee (Aug 21, 2010)

ShaneJeffery said:


> If authors don't get behind Becca here, and vocally support the need for a petition and then sign it, they are inevitably opening themselves up to the same dangers.


We authors are open to the same dangers regardless of if we support Becca or not in this current instance, which makes your statement logically fallacious-unless it was a threat, which I doubt is what you meant. 

Becca, I'm glad that you got it resolved on Smashwords, and I hope things work out with Amazon for you soon.


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## Ros_Jackson (Jan 11, 2014)

carinasanfey said:


> Also, +1 on forming some kind of semi-formal trade union type thing. This thread and Yoda's thread highlight the dangers the anonymity of the internet poses to self-published authors.


I thought ALLi might cover some of that legal ground. http://allianceindependentauthors.org/

Is anyone here a member? It's £75 a year, which seems a lot if you don't want all of the services they offer.


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2015)

Carradee said:


> We authors are open to the same dangers regardless of if we support Becca or not in this current instance, which makes your statement logically fallacious--unless it was a threat, which I doubt is what you meant.


That's true if the petition is unsuccessful. It's only unsuccessful if it doesn't get sufficient support. Obviously, there is no actual petition yet, I'm just saying there should be one and everyone should sign it.

Frankly, any author who reads this thread properly and dismisses it is part of the problem.

Smashwords resolved it because there's a human there who sees the reality of what is happening. The reason amazon haven't responded as quickly is because they're working from automated responses without any reasonable human intervention. Without that intervention, authors will be destroyed far and wide.

We have to stand up against this insanity.


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## D-C (Jan 13, 2014)

Becca, email Jeff. He DOES respond (Or one of his higher execs will).


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## Carradee (Aug 21, 2010)

ShaneJeffery said:


> That's true if the petition is unsuccessful. It's only unsuccessful if it doesn't get sufficient support. Obviously, there is no actual petition yet, I'm just saying there should be one and everyone should sign it.
> 
> [&#8230;]
> 
> We have to stand up against this insanity.


I agree that it's something to stand up against, BUT against what, specifically, and what response will be effective? DMCA abuse is still going to be a potential problem if there's a successful petition. As has already been pointed out, the abuse is possible due to an inherent problem with the DMCA.

I can't be the only one who remembers when a bunch of authors (at least some of them here on KB) freaked out about a perfectly legitimate site, ignored those pointing out that it _was_ a legitimate site, and got that legitimate site *shut down* due to abuse of DMCA notices. It wasn't even been 2 years ago. And now, all of a sudden, "Oh, this is WRONG! We need to make a petition to improve how DMCA is handled!" Where was that indignation towards DMCA when authors* were the guilty party?

*Note that I'm not accusing you or anyone else of specifically having been part of that mess. It's just a precedent that the writer community here was familiar with, and yet the connection wasn't made then&#8230;and I now seem to be the first person to bring it up, on page 4 of this thread. Makes me feel a little sick, tbh.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana


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## crow.bar.beer (Oct 20, 2014)

ShaneJeffery said:


> That's true if the petition is unsuccessful. It's only unsuccessful if it doesn't get sufficient support. Obviously, there is no actual petition yet, I'm just saying there should be one and everyone should sign it.
> 
> Frankly, any author who reads this thread properly and dismisses it is part of the problem.


As long as you're being frank about a hypothetical petition the hypothetical failure of which would be the fault of all the authors who are a part of the problem.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

D-to-the-C said:


> Becca, email Jeff. He DOES respond (Or one of his higher execs will).


I was hoping this would get resolved through the normal channels, D. I mean, am I the only one who thinks it's TOTALLY NUTS that I have to send an email the CEO of a $150 billion corporation in order to solve a problem created in 15 minutes by some two-bit scammer? What a ridiculous waste of that JB's time, or of the time of whatever highly paid executive he delegates it to. But yeah, it might well come to that. I still haven't heard back from KDP.



ShaneJeffery said:


> Smashwords resolved it because there's a human there who sees the reality of what is happening. The reason amazon haven't responded as quickly is because they're working from automated responses without any reasonable human intervention.


I think this is exactly right. Smashwords is small enough and focused enough on books that the person dealing with my problem 1) really understood copyright law and 2) was able to pop across the hall and ask a computer person whether dates of blog posts can be faked. Maybe it wasn't a literal popping across the hall, but you know what I mean -- the parts of the company are connected and work together so that knowledge is pooled, and the company's overall reaction is sensible. With a behemoth like Amazon, I bet the different segments are much more discrete. I very much doubt the KDP people dealing with my problem are in the same building with the computer folks; they might not even be in the same nation. In that kind of environment, I bet people are much more likely to follow formulaic responses.



C. Gockel said:


> The DMCA says that Amazon CAN put Becca's material up and be not held liable (in such a case, the accuser would have to take Becca to a court of law. Since they are in India, that seems unlikely.)
> 
> HOWEVER Amazon and Smashwords are not *REQUIRED* to do so.


This is my understanding of the situation too. When I filed the DMCA counter-notice, I created a "safe haven" under the law. Now the legal responsibility for _Nolander_'s non-infringement is mine to bear, so the retailers can sell it without fear of reprisal. But they can still choose not to sell the book ... just 'cause. When you own a store, you can decide what you want to sell in it, and those decisions can be as capricious as you'd like. My hope is that Amazon wants to be seen reliable and steady, not capricious.



C. Gockel said:


> My guess if this isn't resolved, it will quickly escalate into a scam that affects larger and larger numbers of us.


Yes. This was my main motive in publicizing it.



Carradee said:


> I can't be the only one who remembers when a bunch of authors (at least some of them here on KB) freaked out about a perfectly legitimate site, ignored those pointing out that it _was_ a legitimate site, and got that legitimate site *shut down* due to abuse of DMCA notices. It wasn't even been 2 years ago.


Yep, I remember that. In that case, the DMCA notices were in good faith, but mistaken. At the time, I didn't think about the event as pointing to a problem with the law itself -- just to people's tendency to jump the gun. But designing laws that take people's tendency to jump the gun into account would be a fine idea, wouldn't it? We're all capable of misunderstanding something and leaping to conclusions, after all.

Thanks to all of you for your kinds words and support. It means a lot.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

I'm glad to hear that it's resolved with Smashwords. At least that's progress. Did you see the Passive Voice picked your blog post up? (Sorry if that was already mentioned. I skimmed some of the posts in the thread.)


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## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

Becca, go here: this should give you leverage in convincing Amazon to put your book back up. As mentioned before (not sure if you saw the post), it seems counter notices have to be filed in a very specific way to be effective.

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/responding-dmca-takedown-notice-targeting-your-content

I'll PM as well, just to be sure.


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2015)

C. Rysalis said:


> Becca, go here: this should give you leverage in convincing Amazon to put your book back up. As mentioned before (not sure if you saw the post), it seems counter notices have to be filed in a very specific way to be effective.
> 
> http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/responding-dmca-takedown-notice-targeting-your-content
> 
> I'll PM as well, just to be sure.


Wow. This makes perfect sense.

I'm going to sleep like a baby now


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## Mark Tyson (Sep 22, 2014)

ShaneJeffery said:


> If authors don't get behind Becca here, and vocally support the need for a petition and then sign it, they are inevitably opening themselves up to the same dangers.


I also agree!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

C. Rysalis said:


> Becca, go here: this should give you leverage in convincing Amazon to put your book back up. As mentioned before (not sure if you saw the post), it seems counter notices have to be filed in a very specific way to be effective.
> 
> http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/responding-dmca-takedown-notice-targeting-your-content
> 
> I'll PM as well, just to be sure.


I think this is the best run-down on counter-noticing I've seen, C. Thank you! I've subbed it into my blog post. Really a good resource.



Stacy Claflin said:


> I'm glad to hear that it's resolved with Smashwords. At least that's progress. Did you see the Passive Voice picked your blog post up? (Sorry if that was already mentioned. I skimmed some of the posts in the thread.)


That's terrific! Big thanks to Passive Guy. I bet lots of indie writers who don't hang out at KB read the Passive Voice, so that'll help get the word out. Forewarned is forearmed, hopefully.


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## David VanDyke (Jan 3, 2014)

Quiss said:


> It does seem that having some sort of union or collective would help indies tremendously. A little organization and a pooling of some funds to cover lawyer fees if necessary might provide a little muscle when facing scammers.


This is one of the reasons I'm joining SFWA despite its problems. There are other organizations, such as RWA, if you write in that genre. If you're making a living at this, it's another layer of protection or potential help.


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## Indiecognito (May 19, 2014)

Becca, I'm so sorry this happened. It's nuts. 

That said, I'm so impressed by your detective work and your blog post. You've not only expressed everything with amazing clarity, but you've also given the rest of us a reference if this sort of thing becomes a regular scam. I'm grateful that you chose to talk about it so publicly.

Best of luck with it. I hope it gets resolved really soon.


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## jdcore (Jul 2, 2013)

I just read your post but have not read all the comments on this thread, so if somebody else has mentioned this I apologize. You were very smart not to give your actual name and contact info in the DMCA counter. My suspicion is that the entire thing is a fishing exercise to get your info and then blackmail you under threat that he/she will drop your dox unless you pay.


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

I don't have to tell Becca I support her and that I'm doing everything I can to spread the word on Facebook and twitter. I'm also retweeting all the tweets I see, like David Gaughran's and Courtney Milan's. I'm hoping all here are doing the same.

We are also hugely supporting her on the Writers Pub.

Maybe we could create a hashtag on twitter? Would that help?


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

> Section 512(f) of the DMCA creates liability for knowingly making false claims in a DMCA takedown notice or counter-notice. See 17 U.S.C. § 512(f). So, if you claim in a counter-notice that your content does not infringe the complaining party's copyrighted work while knowing this to be false, then the copyright owner can win damages from you, including court costs and attorneys' fees stemming from your wrongful counter-notice. Note, however, that this provision also works against a person or company sending a wrongful takedown notice. If someone claims in a takedown notice that you are infringing their copyrighted material while knowing this to be false, then you can win damages from them in a lawsuit. *In recent years, the targets of wrongful takedowns have fought back and won damages and favorable settlements from individuals and companies sending bogus takedown notices. For instance, in Online Policy Group v. Diebold, Inc., 337 F. Supp. 2d 1195 (N.D. Cal. 2004), two students and their ISP sued voting machine manufacturer Diebold after it tried to use DMCA takedown notices to disable access to Internet postings of the company's leaked internal email archive. The court granted summary judgment to the students and ISP on their claim, finding that portions of the email archive were so clearly subject to the fair use defense that "[n]o reasonable copyright holder could have believed that [they] were protected by copyright." According to the EFF, Diebold subsequently agreed to pay $125,000 in damages and fees to settle the lawsuit*. For another example, see Crook v. 10 Zen Monkeys in our legal threats database. Someone who has sent a baseless takedown notice about your content may be more inclined to back off if you remind him or her about section 512(f) of the DMCA, in addition to sending a counter-notice.


Oh, lookie ...

But the best thing would be for Amazon to have a policy of simply putting material back up.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

C. Gockel said:


> Oh, lookie ...
> 
> But the best thing would be for Amazon to have a policy of simply putting material back up.


Broadly writ, today's "small world" is part of the problem. Apparently, my scammer lives in India (that is what was said on WF, anyway, and they told me they lived "in a complete opposite timezone"). It would be hard to enforce a U.S. court ruling on them.

Yeah, I'm think Amazon should 1) examine more carefully the evidence of prior publication that arrives with a DMCA notice, 2) offer support/assistance to authors in cases where the evidence is suspect (Amazon has to take the book down, according to the DMCA, but I don't think the DMCA says they can't also offer help), and 3) take DMCA counter-notices into consideration when deciding whether to reinstate a book (after all, counter-notices provide Amazon with a legal shield).

BUT. These changes would require Amazon to hire more people and give them solid training in copyright law and evidence-testing.


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## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

I'd like to point out that the awesome link wasn't discovered by me, but by Christopher B. Wright, author of the Curveball web serial / illustrated superhero shorts. I just reposted it from a different forum.

The wise man said "Also note that you can contest a DMCA takedown on the grounds that they did it incorrectly. A valid DMCA takedown will be in written form have the person swearing on penalty of perjury that they feel the material is infringing, and contain a valid name and contact information."

If this helps Becca solve her case, how about we all go give him a review? He's gotten almost none for Curveball and only a handful for Pay Me, Bug.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

C. Rysalis said:


> I'd like to point out that the awesome link wasn't discovered by me, but by Christopher B. Wright, author of the Curveball web serial / illustrated superhero shorts. I just reposted it from a different forum.
> 
> If this helps Becca solve her case, how about we all go give him a review? He's gotten almost none for Curveball and only a handful for Pay Me, Bug.


Wow ... that is some gorgeous artwork!


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

C. Rysalis said:


> Becca, go here: this should give you leverage in convincing Amazon to put your book back up. As mentioned before (not sure if you saw the post), it seems counter notices have to be filed in a very specific way to be effective.
> 
> http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/responding-dmca-takedown-notice-targeting-your-content
> 
> I'll PM as well, just to be sure.


THANK YOU!

Read this, everyone.


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## jlmarten (May 9, 2012)

I read your blog post, Becca, and all I can say is wow, it's absolutely ridiculous! It puts me in mind of some of the computer scams coming out of third world countries and sets me to thinking, what if they get wind of using this to make money? File a fraudulent DCMA, contact the author, offer your expertise in helping get it removed, or simply demand a ransom. THAT could get ugly.

My wife used to work for the FBI. I don't think they've got the resources to keep up with something on the scale this could reach.  

On the upside, if there is one, with your obvious sleuthing abilities, you might start a side business consulting for those facing the same affliction. At the very least there must be a contemporary sleuth series in here somewhere.


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## Thomas Watson (Mar 8, 2012)

This has been an eye-opener, and no mistake, to paraphrase a well-known Hobbit. I've got little to add (aside from a sudden attack of nerves), but I'll be following a long to see how this is resolved.


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## NoahPorter (Sep 15, 2013)

Good Lord. How a genuine proof of copyright doesn't trump a blog post from a WF scammer is completely absurd...


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

dmaxwell said:


> DMCA should have created an arbitration body. To issue a takedown notice you would notify the body, pay a $50 processing fee and post a $1,000 bond. If the site (or author, in Becca's case) wishes to challenge they would post their own $1,000 bond (yes, I know it sucks to post a $1,000 bond to defend your own work but keep reading). Then it goes to arbitration for review of evidence. Becca's copyright would win over a wonky blog post. The loser forfeits their bond. The arbitration body keeps half the forfeited bond and submits the other half to the winner. Becca keeps her $1,000 bond plus half the loser's bond. This would reduce false takedown notices to zero and keep the matter out of the courts except for high profile stuff between big media companies who have the money and lawyers to duke it out.


I think an arbitration procedure would be better than doing away with the law. In this case it's being horribly abused. If someone actually stole my book, however, I'd love to have this at my disposal, as going to court over it could take years. I would not say it's a bad law all around, just poorly executed.


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## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

From how I understand the procedures the problem arises out of Amazon not heeding the normal procedures. Probably no one thought of adding a "you have to reinstate the item if it was proven to belong to the contested" because that's the logical action after being shown the claim is wrong.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Mr. Sparkle said:


> This is horrible, and I am so, so sorry you have to deal with this, Becca.
> 
> Everyone else, this is why it's risky to employ fiction ghostwriters without references or reviews. It's not like non-fiction, where company owners don't care if they didn't truly produce their copy. You have to find people by word-of-mouth and hope you won't be scammed or sued for something they do. Vigilance!


I had someone right here on kboards offer me $250 to ghostwrite a 5,000 word story for him. He felt scammy to me. At first he tried to hook me saying he wanted to cowrite then sent me a pm with the offer. I kind of doubt I even would've gotten paid and I haven't seen him post a thread in a long time, so yeah there are scammers everywhere in this business. To me it sounds like the guy in this instance just targeted a random author to see if they would pay or not.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Nic said:


> From how I understand the procedures the problem arises out of Amazon not heeding the normal procedures. Probably no one thought of adding a "you have to reinstate the item if it was proven to belong to the contested" because that's the logical action after being shown the claim is wrong.


That does seem to be the main problem. Very much not a lawyer, here, but the way I understand the DMCA, the counter-noticing provision is supposed to protect against this kind of fraud. Once counter-noticed, the ISP *must* reinstate the content within 14 days, unless they are informed that a lawsuit has been filed by the original complainant. They *may* reinstate it at the 10-day point.

It could be that Amazon is, in fact, planning to put _Nolander_ back up in eight days, but if so, they haven't notified me, and from what I've read online, retailers do not feel themselves bound by the counter-noticing provisions the way ISPs are. And I can see why they don't feel bound -- retailers can decide what products to offer in any way they like. The problem is that by adhering to only half the law's provisions, a retailer creates an environment in which a DMCA notice is a weapon against which there's no defense at all, no matter how innocent you might be.

Thanks for all the good wishes, folks! The outpouring of support has been just lovely. All day, my email was jumping with blog comments, emails, Fb comments, and tweets. I couldn't even keep up. It's wonderful to feel so supported. 

I'll update this thread when I have something to report.


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## Alan Petersen (May 20, 2011)

David VanDyke said:


> This is one of the reasons I'm joining SFWA despite its problems. There are other organizations, such as RWA, if you write in that genre. If you're making a living at this, it's another layer of protection or potential help.


How do they protect you? I'm truly curious, since I don't know much about those organizations.

It's been fantastic to see the indie community rally behind Becca over this. A lot of tweets, Facebook posts, comments, authors contacting their KDP reps on her behalf.

I hope Nolander is back on Amazon soon, Becca!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Alan Petersen said:


> How do they protect you? I'm truly curious, since I don't know much about those organizations.
> 
> It's been fantastic to see the indie community rally behind Becca over this. A lot of tweets, Facebook posts, comments, authors contacting their KDP reps on her behalf.
> 
> I hope Nolander is back on Amazon soon, Becca!


Thank you, Alan! Mwah!


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## carolexi (Aug 31, 2014)

Hi Becca--

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I don't have any advice but have to say I think you're handling this brilliantly. Also, yours was one of the first Indie books I picked up, probably back to close when it was released. I loved it and you don't deserve this hassle. I hope this is all resolved for you very soon!


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

Becca, here is a link to report cyber crime to the FBI. It includes scams and identity theft.

I filled this form out for piracy a couple of times and have no idea if it did any good because nobody contacted me. The form is simple, so if you use it you would probably have to choose highlights instead of telling the whole tale.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/cyber


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## CDForness (Nov 25, 2013)

jlmarten said:


> I read your blog post, Becca, and all I can say is wow, it's absolutely ridiculous! It puts me in mind of some of the computer scams coming out of third world countries and sets me to thinking, what if they get wind of using this to make money? File a fraudulent DCMA, contact the author, offer your expertise in helping get it removed, or simply demand a ransom. THAT could get ugly.
> 
> My wife used to work for the FBI. I don't think they've got the resources to keep up with something on the scale this could reach.
> 
> On the upside, if there is one, with your obvious sleuthing abilities, you might start a side business consulting for those facing the same affliction. At the very least there must be a contemporary sleuth series in here somewhere.


I assure you that black hatters already know this scam. For most of them it is not worth the time and risk for a small payout. Plus most black hatters have a set of ethics. More often than not they are there to expose the hypocrisies of other marketers. This kid is an idiot based on the ghost writing scam from WaFo. How do you expect to sustain a scam if you're burning your very first customers?


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## CDForness (Nov 25, 2013)

Forgot to add that I think Becca is doing the best thing she can do for herself and the community. Publicly expose a scam and hopefully provide a viable and repeatable solution that other authors can use and spread the word about. So thank you for sharing your plight.


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## David VanDyke (Jan 3, 2014)

Alan Petersen said:


> How do they protect you? I'm truly curious, since I don't know much about those organizations.


As I understand it, they take on issues such as these - sometimes for individual cases, sometimes in general - and put pressure on those involved to conform to law or standard practice, for the good of all.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

David VanDyke said:


> As I understand it, they take on issues such as these - sometimes for individual cases, sometimes in general - and put pressure on those involved to conform to law or standard practice, for the good of all.


If well funded advocacy groups for indie authors are to get off the ground, I'm guessing they'll probably need to get their start within existing organizations like SFWA. Trying to build one from the ground up would be horribly daunting.



CDF said:


> Forgot to add that I think Becca is doing the best thing she can do for herself and the community. Publicly expose a scam and hopefully provide a viable and repeatable solution that other authors can use and spread the word about. So thank you for sharing your plight.




Being able to come up with "a viable and repeatable solution," and getting the word out about it, would be the best possible outcome.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2015)

Sorry to hear about this.

I've read some of the posts so please excuse me if you've answered these before

1) How/why did Amazon decide you didn't have legal copyright?

2) Someone from another country can only claim legal copyright if they have filed documents with the US Copyright office. Was that information included in the notice Amazon sent you?

3) The system is all messed up. In 2008 and 2009 when I used to blog a lot other sites would steal my articles. None of the websites do anything about it. It's sad to see now it's even more messed up and people can wrongly claim copyright infringement.

4) I wouldn't recommend doing anything against the person scamming you, unless it is via official/legal channels. 

5) Best of luck! I hope this gets resolved soon for you.

6) Is there someone with whom you recently had a fight or argument. This seems as if it's driven by a personal vendetta.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

ireaderreview said:


> Sorry to hear about this.
> 
> I've read some of the posts so please excuse me if you've answered these before
> 
> ...


Thanks for the good wishes, ireaderreview. 

1) The complainant pointed Smashwords to a blog post that appeared to have been published in August 2011, whereas my book wasn't published until 2012. You can set the publication date of a post in the past on at least a couple of the major blogging platforms. Amazon says it's not their business to decide who actually is the legal copyright holder. Instead, Amazon tells the two parties involved in the "dispute" to settle it on their own. Both parties have to give permission for the book to be republished. If ever there were a system more ripe for blackmail ... 

2) I didn't know that, and nope, Amazon provided nothing of the kind. I have to say, that rule doesn't seem entirely fair. It suggests Americans can get away with just taking stuff written by people living in other nations, if those foreign writers did know about U.S. copyright filing, couldn't afford the fee, or didn't bother to file. If that's true, I'm not liking it.

6) Not that I know of. Sad thought.


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## ShayneRutherford (Mar 24, 2014)

ireaderreview said:


> Sorry to hear about this.
> 
> I've read some of the posts so please excuse me if you've answered these before
> 
> 2) Someone from another country can only claim legal copyright if they have filed documents with the US Copyright office. Was that information included in the notice Amazon sent you?


I don't think this is correct. As a Canadian, I believe I'd be expected to register my copyright in Canada, rather than the U.S. But it would still be a legal copyright, and I would certainly be able to claim that copyright as mine.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

ShayneRutherford said:


> I don't think this is correct. As a Canadian, I believe I'd be expected to register my copyright in Canada, rather than the U.S. But it would still be a legal copyright, and I would certainly be able to claim that copyright as mine.


Only IF you have a system in place. Here in the UK its all nudge nudge wink wink. It's all...

"You wrote it, you own, mate. Oh you want a certificate or something? A NUMBER?! No, we don't do that here. Sorry. Have you tried emailing it to yourself?"

Oh come on England! WAKE UP!


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## ML-Larson (Feb 18, 2015)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> Only IF you have a system in place. Here in the UK its all nudge nudge wink wink. It's all...
> 
> "You wrote it, you own, mate. Oh you want a certificate or something? A NUMBER?! No, we don't do that here. Sorry. Have you tried emailing it to yourself?"
> 
> Oh come on England! WAKE UP!


That's got to be the most English thing I've heard all week.


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## D-C (Jan 13, 2014)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> Only IF you have a system in place. Here in the UK its all nudge nudge wink wink. It's all...
> 
> "You wrote it, you own, mate. Oh you want a certificate or something? A NUMBER?! No, we don't do that here. Sorry. Have you tried emailing it to yourself?"
> 
> Oh come on England! WAKE UP!


Haha, so true!


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## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> Only IF you have a system in place. Here in the UK its all nudge nudge wink wink. It's all...
> 
> "You wrote it, you own, mate. Oh you want a certificate or something? A NUMBER?! No, we don't do that here. Sorry. Have you tried emailing it to yourself?"
> 
> Oh come on England! WAKE UP!


A notary's certificate would go a long way already. I've no idea about the cost though.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Updating with the latest. What I sent to KDP a few days ago:



> Dear (Rep's Name),
> 
> Thank you for prompt response, and for your assistance with this matter. I appreciate Amazon's careful attention to copyright issues.
> 
> ...


What I just got:



> Hello,
> 
> I'm so sorry, but we can't offer any additional insight or action on this matter. We are unable to provide you with legal advice. For any specific questions you have about your publishing rights, we recommend you consult an attorney or copyright law professional.
> 
> ...


So, there's one question answered: Amazon does not consider itself legally bound by the DMCA counter-noticing provision. If it did consider itself thus bound, it would have to unblock Nolander within 14 days unless a suit were filed against me in my U.S. federal court district by Rajesh Lahoti. That's my understanding of the law, anyway.


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

What a terrible situation.

I wonder if you could deduct legal expenses. I also assume the U.S. Copyright Office doesn't have any advice. This is an example of internet crime that people didn't anticipate when they developed copyright law.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

Does anyone know a PERSON at Amazon that Becca can speak too--you could PM her their phone number or their email address so it's not up "here".

I am all for creating an email campaign going on Becca's behalf. If we ALL write Amazon's copyright office on Becca's behalf they might at least put the ebook up because legally they are no longer liable.

Becca, I know you're writing Jeff Bezzos, too. Maybe if we all sent him emails with the same subject line he'd pay attention?


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

Here's another thought that's probably way out in left field.

When somebody posts on a website/blog, isn't there another techy record that shows when it was really posted? I don't know the term for this, but I'm thinking of headers on emails that show all the detailed info you normally don't see.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

Becca,

Maybe you can draft a letter we can all copy and paste to Jeff Bezzos and the reps? Something short and concise with all the salient information:

1. Your ASIN #
2. Date you issued a counter claim
3. That they are under no legal obligation to withhold the title anymore
4. That the accuser resides in India so you can't counter sue for a fraudulent notice and are basically helpless

As a group we can solve this!


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## Avis Black (Jun 12, 2012)

HAGrant said:


> Here's another thought that's probably way out in left field.
> 
> When somebody posts on a website/blog, isn't there another techy record that shows when it was really posted? I don't know the term for this, but I'm thinking of headers on emails that show all the detailed info you normally don't see.


The web host may have a cached copy of the original substitution that was made, especially if it was just done this week. I'd ask the web host if they can find it. Explain it's a serious copyright issue. If they can send you a screenshot of the switch, forward it to Amazon.


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## Daniel Knight (Jul 2, 2013)

Becca Mills said:


> Updating with the latest. What I sent to KDP a few days ago:
> 
> What I just got:
> 
> So, there's one question answered: Amazon does not consider itself legally bound by the DMCA counter-noticing provision. If it did consider itself thus bound, it would have to unblock Nolander within 14 days unless a suit were filed against me in my U.S. federal court district by Rajesh Lahoti. That's my understanding of the law, anyway.


Becca,

I would write back to that rep quoting that very provision (that they are required to put it back up within the 14 days) - and I would request the name of a supervisor and a phone number through which you can contact them.

I was the one who let Passive Guy know about your blog post because this is a serious issue that could affect us all. I whole-heartedly support the idea of us all bombarding Jeff with emails about this situation. You can add me to the list of people who will be contacting him.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

This is something the newspapers should be interested in. Wasn't there a reporter on the boards here recently? Publicity about this matter is what is needed.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

C. Gockel said:


> Becca,
> 
> Maybe you can draft a letter we can all copy and paste to Jeff Bezzos and the reps? Something short and concise with all the salient information:
> 
> ...


Thank you, C. 

Here's that info, for anyone who wants to write to anyone they know at Amazon -- and if you do, thank you. I deeply, deeply appreciate the help.

ASIN: B007R6PPZA
Title: Nolander
Author: Becca Mills

DMCA counter-notice submitted to KDP on March 2, 2015.

Kushal Das commented on my blog (screen name "Kelvin") from the IP addresses 117.194.249.191 and 122.163.9.171. These are Indian addresses, which matches what he said to me and what was said about him on Warrior Forum, so he either does reside in India or is consistently misrepresenting his place of residence, including falsifying his IP addresses. Either way, he is probably out of my legal reach.


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

Avis Black said:


> The web host may have a cached copy of the original substitution that was made, especially if it was just done this week. I'd ask the web host if they can find it. Explain it's a serious copyright issue. If they can send you a screenshot of the switch, forward it to Amazon.


Thanks, Avis.

I would try this route. A recent cached copy would show the scam. If the web host wouldn't work with me, I would ask an attorney to make the request. The IRS will tell you if you can deduct legal expenses.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Daniel Knight said:


> Becca,
> 
> I would write back to that rep quoting that very provision (that they are required to put it back up within the 14 days) - and I would request the name of a supervisor and a phone number through which you can contact them.
> 
> I was the one who let Passive Guy know about your blog post because this is a serious issue that could affect us all. I whole-heartedly support the idea of us all bombarding Jeff with emails about this situation. You can add me to the list of people who will be contacting him.


Thank you so much, Daniel!

FYI, I wrote to Jeff Bezos myself yesterday. It felt weird to write to this Very Important Person over something that should so transparently _not be a problem_, but that seems to be the only recourse.


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

> Does anyone know a PERSON at Amazon that Becca can speak too--you could PM her their phone number or their email address so it's not up "here".


This. I don't believe that Becca is dealing with someone who really understands what's going on. It needs to be escalated to someone who can do more than cut and paste answers.

Surely one of the l33t people here with a concierge or other contacts could get a phone number for her.


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## Alan Petersen (May 20, 2011)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> This is something the newspapers should be interested in. Wasn't there a reporter on the boards here recently? Publicity about this matter is what is needed.


Good idea. Especially those news sites that don't like Amazon like Slate, Huffington Post, NY Times. 

You could also post to HARO and perhaps you can get reporters interested in your story:

http://www.helpareporter.com/

How an honest person can be stuck in limbo like this is very scary and something I would think a reporter would be interested in writing about. Especially with Amazon's washing their hands of it even when provided proof that the other party in the "dispute" is a scammer abusing the DMCA system and it's working like a charm for him because of Amazon's indifference over it.

And now unfortunately, you're probably going to have to spend some bucks to hire an attorney that can help you out of this.


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## MajesticMonkey (Sep 3, 2013)

Avis Black said:


> The web host may have a cached copy of the original substitution that was made, especially if it was just done this week. I'd ask the web host if they can find it. Explain it's a serious copyright issue. If they can send you a screenshot of the switch, forward it to Amazon.


You perhaps could try Wayback Machine. I use this to see webpages when a webmaster has deleted their site.
Just copy paste the link of the edited blog post in here to see the old version of the blog post: https://archive.org/web/

If they have a screenshot of the site in their database, you could perhaps use it to your advantage with the ISP...


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

HAGrant said:


> I would try this route. A recent cached copy would show the scam. If the web host wouldn't work with me, I would ask an attorney to make the request. The IRS will tell you if you can deduct legal expenses.





MajesticMonkey said:


> You perhaps could try Wayback Machine. I use this to see webpages when a webmaster has deleted their site.
> Just copy paste the link of the edited blog post in here to see the old version of it: https://archive.org/web/


Thanks, guys. This element has been fully taken care of.


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## J.A. Sutherland (Apr 1, 2014)

You need to consult an IP attorney and probably establish a legal fund to help pay for it. As a group, Indies need some way of getting Amazon to have better processes in place to address this when it happens -- as it will probably start happening more often. I doubt you're the first, and some people have probably paid off one or more of those scammers. The police/FBI are not going to care a great deal about this as the perpetrator is apparently a foreign national operating overseas -- there's not going to be some sort of international operation over this sort of thing.

Do any of the Indie writers "associations" that have sprung up actually do anything or are in a position to start? This is the sort of thing it takes a trade group to address.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

I wrote [email protected] and cc'd [email protected]

As I understand it, Jeff will drag their hides up to his office if he is annoyed. So cc'ing [email protected] will probably get more attention even if the email campaign doesn't get JEFF'S attention.

If we all do this, this WILL get fixed.


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## Daniel Knight (Jul 2, 2013)

Here is the email I just sent to Jeff in case anybody is interested (I know it isn't exactly concise - but hopefully it covers all the main points). I titled it DMCA Fraud Affecting KDP Author.

Dear Mr. Bezos,

I am a KDP author and a member of the writer community on KBoards. Recently a very disturbing situation happened to a fellow author, Becca Mills. Her book Nolander (ASIN: B007R6PPZA), was pulled down off of Amazon because of a fraudulent DMCA complaint filed by Rajesh Lahoti. Based on information from Becca, Rajesh used a blogger loop-hole to make it look like she had copied text from his blog (you can easily make a blog post dated to any date you want in the past – so this is not an acceptable way to verify copyright). 

Becca contacted KDP, and even let them know she has the official registered copyright filed with the United States Copyright Office. The Amazon rep told her Becca had to resolve the issue with the person filing the complaint and that the only way for them to put her book back up was for the person filing the complaint to rescind his complaint. There is no way she can do that since this is intentional fraud. Rajesh is evening using an alias to contact her under the pretense of offering her help with the situation – no doubt as part of a prelude to try to extort money from her.

Becca filed a counter-notice (March 2, 2015) and notified the KDP rep – but the KDP rep still insists that Amazon will not put the book back up for sale. Under the rules of the DMCA, Amazon is released from all liability by virtue of the counter-notice, and unless the person filing a complaint files a lawsuit against Becca within 14 days – Amazon is required to put the material back up.

The fact that Amazon is only honoring one side of the DMCA rules, taking down a work after receiving a complaint and not the other half of the rules requiring you to put the work back up following a counter-claim, opens the entire system up to rampant abuse. There is absolutely nothing to stop scammers from filing fraudulent DMCA complaints against any and every work up on Amazon, if easily manipulated blog posts are held as a reliable standard of proof, and official filings with the United States government are disregarded.

I am sure you understand the gravity of this situation, and I hope you will give this matter your full attention. I have no affiliation with Becca Mills other than the fact that we are both members of KBoards, but I can easily see the importance of this issue. Becca’s work should be restored to the Amazon store and new measures need to be put in place to protect against fraudulent DMCA claims.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and thank you for creating KDP to give authors like myself and countless others an opportunity to get our work out there.


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## Daniel Knight (Jul 2, 2013)

C. Gockel said:


> I wrote [email protected] and cc'd [email protected]
> 
> As I understand it, Jeff will drag their hides up to his office if he is annoyed. So cc'ing [email protected] will probably get more attention even if the email campaign doesn't get JEFF'S attention.
> 
> If we all do this, this WILL get fixed.


Thanks for the extra address: [email protected] I'll send a copy of my letter along to that address too.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

> You need to consult an IP attorney and probably establish a legal fund to help pay for it.


This won't solve the problem. Amazon, at this point, doesn't CARE that she is innocent. She's supplied ample proof already. They want it resolved between her and the accuser.

If the accuser was in the U.S. she could sue him--and she would WIN--big time. But he isn't, so she can't.

We have to point this out to Amazon. Please write them.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Edward M. Grant said:


> Surely, if they're bound by the initial DMCA notice to remove the book, they're also bound by the counter-notice provision to put it back?


You would think. I'm guessing they believe their retailer status makes them different from YouTube and ISPs. Perhaps that belief just hasn't been tested in court yet. Maybe I'll get to test it. Yay. 



Alan Petersen said:


> Good idea. Especially those news sites that don't like Amazon like Slate, Huffington Post, NY Times.
> 
> You could also post to HARO and perhaps you can get reporters interested in your story:
> 
> ...


This would be a logical next step, along with appealing to the EFF for help. But I'm trying to keep in mind that's it's not "Amazon" that's doing this. It's two or three individuals at the most untrained and non-autonomous level of the massive entity that is Amazon. Yes, they're operating according to the company's policy, and the policy is a bad one. But so far as I know, this kind of thing hasn't happened to one of us before. It's the situation that reveals the stupidity of the policy, and Amazon needs time to react to the new info.

Not to get mushy or anything, but I pretty much love Amazon. Amazon enabled me to become a writer. I don't want to try to injure the company at this point, not when it may just be in the process of reacting to a new thing in the slow way behemoths react. My blog post about this has had more than 7,000 visitors. I'm having trouble keeping up with the RTing. For now, it seems like enough to just spread awareness about this in the indie community.


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

Me too.

Just sent an e-mail to JB. I think everyone should


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

You guys who are emailing JB on my behalf, thank you so much. I'm getting all weepy, which is terribly embarrassing, because I'm sitting in a public space on campus, and there are students all around. Thank you


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## Alan Petersen (May 20, 2011)

Becca Mills said:


> You would think. I'm guessing they believe their retailer status makes them different from YouTube and ISPs. Perhaps that belief just hasn't been tested in court yet. Maybe I'll get to test it. Yay.
> 
> This would be a logical next step, along with appealing to the EFF for help. But I'm trying to keep in mind that's it's not "Amazon" that's doing this. It's two or three individuals at the most untrained and non-autonomous level of the massive entity that is Amazon. Yes, they're operating according to the company's policy, and the policy is a bad one. But so far as I know, this kind of thing hasn't happened to one of us before. It's the situation that reveals the stupidity of the policy, and Amazon needs time to react to the new info.
> 
> Not to get mushy or anything, but I pretty much love Amazon. Amazon enabled me to become a writer. I don't want to try to injure the company at this point, not when it may just be in the process of reacting to a new thing in the slow way behemoths react. My blog post about this has had more than 7,000 views. I'm having trouble keeping up with the RTing. For now, it seems like enough to just spread awareness about this in the indie community.


Becca, you're an amazing person! Your calm and level-headed approach will help you more with Amazon than my running around like a chicken with its head chopped off approach.


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## Bluebonnet (Dec 15, 2013)

Is anybody here active on Reddit? If so, please start a thread over there. Reddit has very high traffic, so the issue would get even more exposure.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Alan Petersen said:


> Becca, you're an amazing person! Your calm and level-headed approach will help you more with Amazon than my running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off approach.





carinasanfey said:


> Becca, we all love you very much here at kboards, and the level-headedness with which you've handled this situation is admirable. I'm willing to bet that Bezos' inbox is going to explode in the next few minutes.


Aww ... you guys. 

I hope I'm being calm and level-headed about it, not just naive.


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

It's about what's right and what's wrong- about good and evil.

Good must win! Let's all make it happen!


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## Sonya Bateman (Feb 3, 2013)

Another email to Jeff and [email protected] has been sent.

Becca, I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I'm absolutely sickened over this. It's completely outrageous, and far beyond the pale even for Amazon's generally un-helpful KDP customer service.

Here's hoping a considerable handful of angry emails gets someone's attention there.


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## Chrisbwritin (Jan 28, 2014)

Emailed.


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## johnlmonk (Jul 24, 2013)

Emailed...


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## Reaper (Nov 5, 2013)

Becca, your attitude throughout has been exemplary. This is a terrible situation that's been thrust upon you, and Amazon really needs to get a grip on their policies. I wish you the best of luck and hope it gets resolved in your favour soon.

Please keep us up to date and know we're all rooting for you!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

I just spoke to someone at Amazon. They're going to put the book back up! Thank you all so much!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

I want to add that I asked the person I spoke to if she could shed any light on the larger situation -- all authors' vulnerability to this sort of thing, I mean. She said she couldn't pass along anything specific, but that they would be looking into it, and that they didn't want to be in the position of aiding spurious DMCA claims.

She said it could take up to 24 hours for the book to be unblocked, but that it usually happens more quickly.

So ... hopefully this thing is all fixed.

(I'm not at all superstitious, but the jinx ...)


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## Robert Dahlen (Apr 27, 2014)

Becca Mills said:


> I just spoke to someone at Amazon. They're going to put the book back up! Thank you all so much!


HUZZAH!! Way to go, Amazon! Way to go, Becca!!!


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## Reaper (Nov 5, 2013)

Fantastic news!


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## Daniel Knight (Jul 2, 2013)

Becca Mills said:


> I just spoke to someone at Amazon. They're going to put the book back up! Thank you all so much!


That's great news Becca. I'm so glad to hear it worked out for you. Thanks for sharing your discussion with the rep about the bigger picture too. Glad to hear they are looking into the issue.


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## MyraScott (Jul 18, 2014)

Whoop whoop! Glad someone with some sense finally looked into the matter.


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## Sonya Bateman (Feb 3, 2013)

YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!


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

Becca Mills said:


> I just spoke to someone at Amazon. They're going to put the book back up! Thank you all so much!


That's awesome!!!! Hooray!!

Also, I'm laughing my hiney off because I just sent them an email.


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## louise8 (May 25, 2011)

There was a similar situation on The Good Wife TV show where a Russian con man ran a scam to get the law firm to pay him money
to restore its website.

When the law firm discovered who he was, he laughed at them - you can't sue me. You can report me but Russia
doesn't care about Internet frauds.

The clever IT person at The Good Wife set up a false website via the con man's IP with the message: Death to Putin.

The con man immediately understood the value of leaving the law firm alone and caved in (as the KGB knocked at his door).

Maybe the above will give some people ideas.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks so much, everyone! What a weight off. Hmmm ... I think my tush looks a little smaller.


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

Becca, congratulations!

We are so HAPPY for you! You were amazing all through this. So cool and classy.


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

That's brilliant news! Yay for customer service reps who use their own brains.


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## Raquel Lyon (Mar 3, 2012)

Wonderful news, Becca. Sending you a virtual glass of champers!  


ETA: Just checked and it's back up already, yay!


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## KL_Phelps (Nov 7, 2013)

wow, what a crazy situation, thrilled things worked out for you.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

I hope they will never take DMCA claims from that particular person again. What a horrible thing!


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## Johnny Dracula (Feb 20, 2015)

Time to order Nolander, I say.


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## GoneToWriterSanctum (Sep 13, 2014)

I do not accept VerticalScope's Terms Of Service on Kboards, and have asked for my account to be deleted, along with all of my posts.

If you are here as a result of a Google search, _*leave now*_. The owners of this site are interested only in your possible ad revenue.


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

C. Gockel said:


> I hope they will never take DMCA claims from that particular person again. What a horrible thing!


I agree. But sadly a scammer will just assume a different name and move on to the next target.


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## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

Eric Cartman said:


> Time to order Nolander, I say.


+1

Congrats! Glad to hear they finally listened.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

> Time to order Nolander, I say.


You won't regret it! It's wonderful, as is the sequel Solatium. But you'll probably wind up missing sleep and reading on your phone in your car!


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## JKata (Dec 9, 2014)

How awesome, Becca! (I actually just sent an email without realizing that it had already been resolved.) But I am so happy that your book is now up again.


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## Daizie (Mar 27, 2013)

Yay! Thank God. So excited that it got sorted out and that Amazon put your book back up, especially since you had proof you were being scammed. This has been the most alarming thing I've seen in years.


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## donna callea (Dec 25, 2009)

So glad Nolander is back and the issue resolved. Hugs and pats on the back to you, Becca.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Thank you, everyone! 

I'm so glad you guys can see that it's back up. The campus wireless just went all wonky and started blocking all sites, including Amazon.

All sites except Kboards, that is. Sounds like a set-up for the best _Twilight Zone _ep ever doesn't it??


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## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

Becca - I've been following this thread and I'm thrilled to see that Amazon finally did the right thing! It's also gratifying to see how the writing community came together to support you. Kboards rocks!


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## Bluebonnet (Dec 15, 2013)

Hurray! Great news!


----------



## Adam Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

Glad this is finally resolved! I've been following along silently. Crazy stuff. Hopefully things are changed moving forward to stop this from happening.


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## A past poster (Oct 23, 2013)

I'm so glad for you! Wishing you many, many, many sales!


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## Joseph John (Nov 6, 2013)

Ordering Nolander as well. I'm so glad for you that everything was resolved relatively quickly.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

I'm so happy for you! What a relief.


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## Indiecognito (May 19, 2014)

Congratulations, and thanks again for sharing this whole ordeal. 

One-clicked just now and it felt SO GOOD.


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## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

I just picked up a copy as well. Hopefully we can all help to propel it up the charts!


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## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

I'm so relieved for you, Becca!! I'm not sure I would have remained as calm as you if it had happened to me. Let's just hope we don't see a spate of these things.


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## Catherine Lea (Jul 16, 2013)

Huge relief for you. And well done on sticking to your guns.


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## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

So scary! Saw this earlier at work and shot an email off as well, then realized you'd already heard the good news back! So glad you are back up.


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## mjstorm (Feb 23, 2013)

It's not up for me yet, ("This title is not currently available for purchase") in the U.S. store. I'll also be grabbing one to give it a good kick.


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## Carradee (Aug 21, 2010)

Glad for the happy ending.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

carinasanfey said:


> IT'S BAAAAACK!


Awesome news! I'm off to download a copy. We have to restore the book's rank in the free store, so if you haven't downloaded a copy already, now would be good time. 

ETA: Shoot. It's there in the store, but still not available. I'll check back periodically until I can download it.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

mjstorm said:


> It's not up for me yet, ("This title is not currently available for purchase") in the U.S. store. I'll also be grabbing one to give it a good kick.


The link in her signature didn't work for me, either, but I was able to download the book once I clicked through to her author page and on the link there.


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## MyraScott (Jul 18, 2014)

That is wonderful news. Sometimes, you just have to yell in the right ear.


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## Huldra (Nov 7, 2013)

Thank god! Congratulations on getting it back up, Becca. Just gave Nolander a download to help with UK rankings.
This has been absolutely terrifying to follow.
How did you manage to talk to someone at Amazon? Did you request to talk to a manager, or was it a result of the many emails to Bezos? Did they say what finally made them understand what was going on?


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## mjstorm (Feb 23, 2013)

Got it!


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## Alan Petersen (May 20, 2011)

Becca Mills said:


> I want to add that I asked the person I spoke to if she could shed any light on the larger situation -- all authors' vulnerability to this sort of thing, I mean. She said she couldn't pass along anything specific, but that they would be looking into it, and that they didn't want to be in the position of aiding spurious DMCA claims.
> 
> She said it could take up to 24 hours for the book to be unblocked, but that it usually happens more quickly.
> 
> ...


WOO-HOO!

I'm so happy it got straightened out, Becca! Kudos to Amazon for taking a close look at what was going on and fixing the problem!

And I'm amazed by the power of the Kboards indie community! Dollars to donuts the emails they started to receive got this kicked up to someone with more authority to make decisions! It's like our own indie trade group and we don't have pay membership fees.


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

I was able to get to and DL the US version by clicking through the siggy.

Calm, classy and sane. I'm not sure you're the type of author we want or expect to see here on Kboards, Becca.

Seriously, thank you for showing us all how it should be done. And much relief all around for a successful outcome!


----------



## MyraScott (Jul 18, 2014)

Here, have another!









So glad you didn't have to pay legal fees







to sort this out.


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## DRMarvello (Dec 3, 2011)

Excellent news! I'm pleased it got resolved. I hope Amazon reviews their policies so others won't have to fight the same battle in the future.

BTW, I read Nolander long ago and enjoyed it. Anyone who wants to support Becca by downloading it won't be disappointed. You'll want to move right on to _Solatium_ once you're done.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Huldra said:


> How did you manage to talk to someone at Amazon? Did you request to talk to a manager, or was it a result of the many emails to Bezos? Did they say what finally made them understand what was going on?





Alan Petersen said:


> And I'm amazed by the power of the Kboards indie community! Dollars to donuts the emails they started to receive got this kicked up to someone with more authority to make decisions! It's like our own indie trade group and we don't have pay membership fees.


Thanks, everyone, so, so much! 

I hadn't had a chance to write back to KDP, so it was the email to JB that did it, especially since it was backed up by a bunch more emails from all of you. I got a call from someone at KDP's Executive Customer Relations saying they were looking into it, and after a short time they had decided to put it back up.

So, it really is just a matter of getting someone to look at the problem as a unique situation, not as something that can be solved with a form letter. Emailing JB must be the way you get someone to do that. It seems strange that there's no middle level that can consider issues individually, that you have jump from someone at the entry of the company straight to the CEO, but maybe emailing him is just the way you access the middle levels. Dunno. Amazon didn't get where it is by doing things the way everyone else does, I guess.

To you folks who are downloading _Nolander_ -- thank you! That is a lovely kindness. 

And yeah, Alan, what you said -- the community of indie authors is a wonderful thing. We have our differences of opinion, but when it comes down to it, we look out for each other. It's pretty darned awesome.



MyraScott said:


> Here, have another!


Thank you! <hiccup> 



Phoenix Sullivan said:


> I was able to get to and DL the US version by clicking through the siggy.
> 
> Calm, classy and sane. I'm not sure you're the type of author we want or expect to see here on Kboards, Becca.
> 
> Seriously, thank you for showing us all how it should be done. And much relief all around for a successful outcome!


Awww ... <blush> Thank you. I'll try to do something ghastly posthaste to make up for the good behavior.


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## OW (Jul 9, 2014)

Congrats on getting your book back Becca, and well done to you all for rallying around like you all have. It's really a rather warm and lovely thing to see


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Just downloaded it. Great job getting action. Good for you. This time, the bad guys LOOOSSSSE!


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

Wonderful. So glad to hear that you got this resolved and that Nolander is available again.


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

Oh wow, OHFB picked up Nolander this afternoon! How cool!


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

You were featured on OHFB this evening.


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## Ros_Jackson (Jan 11, 2014)

I love a happy ending. I'm so pleased this got sorted out for you, Becca. Moreover, I hope the prominence you've given this issue will stop it happening to other indies in future.


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

Coming very late to the party—and I'm delighted that it's turned into a party at this point! 

Becca, you navigated that nightmare with intelligence and class. And I'm thrilled to see all the support and help you got. Well done, all.

Off to download the book of the hour


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## -alex- (Jul 12, 2011)

So very pleased this got sorted out for you, Becca!

I hope Amazon get on to this kind of thing, its very worrying for all of us.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

SevenDays said:


> Oh wow, OHFB picked up Nolander this afternoon! How cool!





cinisajoy said:


> You were featured on OHFB this evening.


That is so nice! Thank you, OHFB! 

My goodness, all this is giving me the feels, big time.


----------



## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Indiecognito said:


> Congratulations, and thanks again for sharing this whole ordeal.
> 
> One-clicked just now and it felt SO GOOD.


Indeed! One-clicked as well and its now third in my TBR queue.

Congrats on the win!

SM


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

You can see where the green "free" line falls below the red "sales" line -- that's when _Nolander _was blocked. And you can see today's recovery. You guys are, in short, made of awesome. You too, OHFB. Hugs!


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## Silly Writer (Jul 15, 2013)

Handled like a Boss! So happy for you, Becca. Tried to download, but said I've already purchased. But ranking is looking good!


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Becca, so glad to see that you were able to talk to someone at Amazon and get this sorted out. Hopefully, your experience will save someone else from having to go through this. You handled the situation with class and grace, though I know you had to have been torn up inside. Brava!

Also, add me to the list who downloaded to get you back up in rankings. I'll try to get to it soon, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it, judging from other people's notes.


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## Kenosha Kid (Jun 23, 2011)

So happy this was resolved, Becca. Your grace under fire has been the one beautiful thing in all of this. Thanks for keeping us informed.


----------



## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

ireaderreview said:


> 2) Someone from another country can only claim legal copyright if they have filed documents with the US Copyright office. Was that information included in the notice Amazon sent you?


When giving legal advice it is advisable to the source and check your facts: from the US Copyright Service http://copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#automatic

" Do I have to register with your office to be protected?

No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section "Copyright Registration."

"Is my copyright good in other countries?

The United States has copyright relations with most countries throughout the world, and as a result of these agreements, we honor each other's citizens' copyrights. However, the United States does not have such copyright relationships with every country. For a listing of countries and the nature of their copyright relations with the United States, see Circular 38a, International Copyright Relations of the United States."


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

I'm so glad this had a happy ending.

This is a lesson to everybody to register our copyrights, even though we don't technically need to do that. Becca's case wouldn't have been as strong without it.


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## Howietzer (Apr 18, 2012)

Just downloaded "Nolander." Sorry I missed the email part of this whole thing. Glad you got out of the deep water... Your win affects us all.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2015)

Good job!


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## Chrisbwritin (Jan 28, 2014)

Anyone else get a really nice response from Amazon re: this? Nice to see that people are actually on the other end sometimes!

"Hello Christine,

I'm <redacted> of Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Executive Customer Relations and your email to Jeff was brought to my attention.

Thanks for your comments about "Nolander." The book is currently live and can be purchased - check out the detail page to verify its status:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R6PPZA

Feedback serves an important role in helping us to improve our platform and provide better service. We appreciate you taking the time to offer us your thoughts.

Thanks for using KDP.

Regards,"

(didn't want to put the name there in case I wasn't supposed to post the email, lol!) But in any case, really comforting to see that they rectified their mistake and are paying attentiong.


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## johnlmonk (Jul 24, 2013)

Chrisbwritin said:


> Anyone else get a really nice response from Amazon re: this? Nice to see that people are actually on the other end sometimes!


Hello John,

I'm [ someone ] of Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Executive Customer Relations and your email to Jeff was brought to my attention.

Thanks for your comments about "Nolander." The book is currently live and can be purchased - check out the detail page to verify its status:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R6PPZA

Feedback serves an important role in helping us to improve our platform and provide better service. We appreciate you taking the time to offer us your thoughts.

Regards,

[ someone]
Executive Customer Relations
Kindle Direct Publishing
http://kdp.amazon.com/


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## jimbro (Jan 10, 2014)

I made an earlier post to this thread where I stated that no one had ever been penalized for filing a perjurous DMCA takedown notice. That is not entirely accurate. Here is a recent victory by Wordpress against a false DMCA notice: http://torrentfreak.com/wordpress-wins-25000-from-dmca-takedown-abuser-150305/


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## Bluebonnet (Dec 15, 2013)

jimbro said:


> I made an earlier post to this thread where I stated that no one had ever been penalized for filing a perjurous DMCA takedown notice. That is not entirely accurate. Here is a recent victory by Wordpress against a false DMCA notice: http://torrentfreak.com/wordpress-wins-25000-from-dmca-takedown-abuser-150305/


Yikes! The article said the WordPress attorney's fees were $22,264.00. (That accounts for most of the award.) Most of us would not be able to come up with that much money to fight a fraudulent DMCA notice, so we would still be vulnerable to DMCA abuse.


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Wonderful news! I so love happy endings and I expected nothing less given the level of active support here at KBoards. Would be nice to see the black hat guy get some kind of comeuppance though. I guess that's down to Amazon. Hopefully, they are now so much wiser to this kind of scam and will amend their policies accordingly.

I wonder if you could post the final email from the Amazon rep so we could enjoy the excellent conclusion from their end.

You have behaved so responsibly and level-headedly throughout this whole trauma. It has actually been something of a joy to watch to its fruitful conclusion.

Damn good job, Becca Mills!


Philip


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

jimbro said:


> I made an earlier post to this thread where I stated that no one had ever been penalized for filing a perjurous DMCA takedown notice. That is not entirely accurate. Here is a recent victory by Wordpress against a false DMCA notice: http://torrentfreak.com/wordpress-wins-25000-from-dmca-takedown-abuser-150305/


Thank you for posting that, jimbro. Interesting.

Maybe Amazon should go after "Rajesh Lahoti." I'd say he's caused Amazon's reputation some damage. Not big damage, maybe, but not nothing, either -- my blog's had 7500 visitors over the last four days. It'd be a great way to send a message. $22K would be chump change to the 'Zon.


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Philip Gibson said:


> Wonderful news! I so love happy endings and I expected nothing less given the level of active support here at KBoards. Would be nice to see the black hat guy get some kind of comeuppance though. I guess that's down to Amazon. Hopefully, they are now so much wiser to this kind of scam and will amend their policies accordingly.
> 
> I wonder if you could post the final email from the Amazon rep so we could enjoy the excellent conclusion from their end.
> 
> ...


Awww ... thank you, Philip! And thanks everyone else. You're gonna give me a swelled head! You guys are The Best. 

I post this with relish because, although it's obviously just another KDP form letter, it was sent by the same rep who sent the previous one, which was so infuriating. It's silly to find that satisfying, and yet I do:



> Hello,
> 
> Thank you for your recent emails regarding your rights to distribute B007R6PPZA Nolander by Becca Mills. I've reviewed the information you provided and made your book available for sale. Your book will be available for purchase in the Kindle Store within 24 hours
> 
> ...


_Nolander_'s had about 500 downloads this afternoon. Its ranking is better than it's been since it first went permafree. Thank you all so much, and a big shoutout to OHFB.


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## horrordude1973 (Sep 20, 2014)

this is great to hear. I downloaded it as well


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

What a relief for everyone  . Good to keep those two Amazon email addresses handy.

I think the minions at Amazon need a wake-up call. I had a similar 'wrong information' reply from CreateSpace when I received an email supposedly from the USPS to say my proof copy couldn't be delivered and to open the attached note, which I couldn't open. When I enquired at CreateSpace the first reply told me the email was genuine and to ask the emailer to re-send the attachment. The attachment had a Trojan virus. In a second email to CreateSpace I was told that the first reply was erroneous and to ignore it as the book had not been posted via the USPS, and they were sorry about the virus  .


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

johnlmonk said:


> Hello John,
> 
> I'm [ someone ] of Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Executive Customer Relations and your email to Jeff was brought to my attention.
> 
> ...


Yup. Got that message too. Except they called me Susanne


----------



## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys, 

Been out of the country for a little while and now I'm back and holy s**t did this just happen to a fellow author? This is absolutely scandalous!

Becca, I'm so sorry for everything you had to go through and I'm happy that it got resolved. Sending big hugs your way. But I think none of us are safe until there are better procedures in place to protect authors from such abuse. I know Amazon technically doesn't care about us, but if such frauds become commonplace I don't see Amazon gaining anything either. As an author living in Romania, publishing through the US-run Amazon, having to worry about frauds from India or any other place in the huge world is really nerve-racking.


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Been out of the country for a little while and now I'm back and holy s**t did this just happen to a fellow author? This is absolutely scandalous!
> 
> Becca, I'm so sorry for everything you had to go through and I'm happy that it got resolved. Sending big hugs your way. But I think none of us are safe until there are better procedures in place to protect authors from such abuse. I know Amazon technically doesn't care about us, but if such frauds become commonplace I don't see Amazon gaining anything either. As an author living in Romania, publishing through the US-run Amazon, having to worry about frauds from India or any other place in the huge world is really nerve-racking.


Thank you, Andrei! We definitely do need those better procedures, and I feel optimistic that we'll get them. I'm pretty darn sure Amazon doesn't want to become a hunting ground for scammers looking for authors to target. That is not going to benefit anyone at all -- jeepers.

A lawyer commenting on my blog explained that, as a retailer, Amazon is not bound by the counter-noticing provision of the DMCA, though it is bound by the noticing provision. That basically means it has to apply the stick but it doesn't have to offer the carrot. Well, no, that's an imperfect analogy. Better: the notice is a spear and the counter-notice is a shield, and the law intends spear and shield to work together. If you know your spear is weak, you slink off when the other guy shakes his shield at you; if you know your shield is crap, you run away from the incoming spear. Occasionally the two weapons are well matched, and there's a duel to decide which is stronger (i.e., a lawsuit). But ignoring counter-notices takes the shield out of the equation. Responding to instead of ignoring DMCA counter-notices would probably be the easiest and quickest thing Amazon and other retailers could do to change their practices. It's not perfect -- a book could still be down 10 to 14 days -- but that's better than the current worst case scenario, which is forever.

I know they're thinking this stuff over and D2D and Smashwords. I've also been in contact with Google, but I doubt there's any conversation going on there about this. Google is even more behemothy than the 'Zon. I do know someone who works at Google, though ... hm.


----------



## Mark at Marble City (Aug 17, 2013)

Brilliant news! One-clicked this morning in Ireland. You're a shining star in the author community.


----------



## 41419 (Apr 4, 2011)

All working here on the other side of the pond. Book downloaded right away. And well done to Becca for remaining so calm and cool throughout this whole episode. I'm sure I would have had a public meltdown...


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

dgaughran said:


> All working here on the other side of the pond. Book downloaded right away. And well done to Becca for remaining so calm and cool throughout this whole episode. I'm sure I would have had a public meltdown...


R U kidding? I would have FREAKED. And done and said a lot of stupid things.

Well done Becca, for behaving like a true professional


----------



## R. M. Webb (Jul 24, 2014)

Becca - 

I'd just recently started reading Nolander and was so super pleased by how good it is! When I found this thread shortly after, I was shocked that something like this could happen and then watched in awe as you handled yourself so gracefully. 

You have my respect for both your writing skills and your cool head under pressure. If Nolander wasn't already on my phone, I'd download it. 

Hmmm... Maybe I'll just go ahead and had the next book.... 

*edited because COFFEE


----------



## Adrian Howell (Feb 24, 2013)

Just finished reading through this thread. Must have been horrible for Becca, but really glad it ended quickly and happily. Who is to say another one of us won’t be targeted in the same way tomorrow, but at least this makes a precedent to refer to when dealing with DMCA abuse in the future. And maybe Amazon will rethink its ignore policy regarding counter notices.


----------



## R. M. Webb (Jul 24, 2014)

carinasanfey said:


> Check out Nolander's ranking!! You go, Becca!


Wow! Currently #308 free - plus #1 and #5 in two sub-categories- in the .com store!

May the click through's to book two be many!


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I've also downloaded - and I haven't even got a Kindle  . Will have to read it on my computer.


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## Incognita (Apr 3, 2011)

I was moving yesterday and am just now trying to get caught up on all this, but I'm so glad this horrible situation had a (relatively) speedy solution. Becca, you handled yourself amazingly well. I think I probably would have had an epic public meltdown.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Does anyone belong to the Alliance of Independent Authors?

http://allianceindependentauthors.org/

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is the professional association for authors who self-publish.
We foster ethics and excellence in self-publishing -- and run many campaigns and collaborations that benefit our members.


----------



## AngelaQuarles (Jun 22, 2014)

So glad this was resolved!!! I downloaded a copy to help with rankings too! And I look forward to reading it!


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## Sally C (Mar 31, 2011)

I grabbed a copy too. So glad this got sorted out for you, Becca!


----------



## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

Really glad to hear this was resolved.  Congratulations!


----------



## HN Wake (Feb 24, 2015)

Such great news, Becca.  I just downloaded in support as well!


----------



## Gail Hart (Apr 11, 2014)

Congrats Becca on successfully resolving this problem. You did a much better job of keeping your cool than I'd have been able to in your shoes.

Off to one-click Nolander...


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Becca,

so glad you got this resolved.  You are always so calm and collected!

I would have bought Nolander, but I already did, long ago.  Going to look at some of the signatures of the other great supportive members here, too!

Betsy


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## R. M. Webb (Jul 24, 2014)

carinasanfey said:


> OMG. Started reading Nolander last night and LOVE IT.
> 
> This Rajesh Lahoti dude is going to be so p*ssed off when he realises how much free publicity he's generated for you.


I know! Isn't it good? I couldn't believe I got it for free!


----------



## Shei Darksbane (Jan 31, 2015)

Clicked in support, realized it's Urban Fantasy, Added to my Kindle. ^^ YAY URBAN FANTASY!~ *High fives for Becca!*


----------



## Thisiswhywecan&#039;thavenicethings (May 3, 2013)

Nolander was one of the best books I read this year and Solatium was just as good! If there had been 10 books in the series, I would have bought them all. 

So happy for Becca!


----------



## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

What an incredible ordeal to go through, Becca. I am so sorry you had to deal with that and am happy to hear it has been resolved. I shared your story in another writer's group. It's important that we make people aware of these scams. 

Congratulations on getting your book unblocked and kudos to everyone who jumped in to email Amazon and Mr. B. What an amazing community! 
I hope this serves as a lesson to would-be scammers - don't mess with KBoarders!


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME! Thank you so much. I'm getting the feels again. <fans eyes> At least this time I'm not sitting in a crowd of weirded out college students.


----------



## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

So happy for you, Becca!!  You handled this far better than I could ever dream of. Well done!


----------



## Tyler Danann (Nov 1, 2013)

Becca Mills said:


> YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME! Thank you so much. I'm getting the feels again. <fans eyes> At least this time I'm not sitting in a crowd of weirded out college students.


Gooooo!!! Becccaa!!!

I knew you'd make it out of the storm! Hopefully this sort of scam won't cross our ships again. 

If was me I'd of been in a fix as I don't have my books registered as such! I am a non-US citizen.


----------



## SA_Soule (Sep 8, 2011)

What a horrible ordeal to have to endure! I am so glad that you were able to resolve this.

Good luck and God bless.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Sorry this happened to you. But if there is a silver lining to this cloud, I got _Nolander_ and started reading it. Enjoying it so much I went back and bought _Solatium_. Bet I'm not the only one.


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## Alan Petersen (May 20, 2011)

Becca Mills said:


> YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME! Thank you so much. I'm getting the feels again. <fans eyes> At least this time I'm not sitting in a crowd of weirded out college students.


If they were taking your class you could have said: "sorry I get emotional when I'm giving out Fs".


----------



## Nicholas Andrews (Sep 8, 2011)

I was going to email Amazon, but then saw that they put it back up. So add me to the throng who gave Nolander a download. No idea whether I'll get around to reading it or not. Just doing my small part in helping out.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

To everyone who's praising what seemed like my calm handling of the situation, thank you. It's wonderful to be thought of as calm and rational, but you know, through most of it, I was really only, I don't know, at the level of _focused and concerned_. The fraudulence of the accusation was just so obvious that it didn't occur to me that the book might not be restored, eventually. I thought, "What a PITA! And boy, if scammers start doing a better job on this kind of thing, it could become quite dangerous." And, of course, Smashwords came around right away, confirming my feeling that this would be solved quickly. The situation only moved to _deeply alarming _when I realized KDP really didn't care about the evidence of fraud and was just going to say "no," no matter what. That it probably wasn't even reading the materials I sent in. That was the truly frightening part, and it was brief. I think some other folks saw the worst-case possibility -- that this really had the potential to be career-ending, at least so far as Amazon goes -- more quickly than I did. So through most of it, I didn't have to be calm in the face of terror. I'm slightly terrified now, though, in a past-tense kind of way. If not for the recourse to JB's email address, that might well have been that. I so glad Amazon came through, but the feeling of randomness to how it played out is definitely rattling.

To all of you downloading, reading, or praising _Nolander_: thank you so much. It means the world to me.


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

POI picked you up today, too!


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## Nessa Quill (Jul 16, 2011)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

I'm so glad I downloaded Nolander. I'm only about 20 pages in, but I can say this is my first Kindle download ever (since getting a Kindle a week ago) that really gripped me. The Stephen King shorts collection didn't grip me, and I've been reading King all my life.


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## cbaku (Jan 2, 2015)

Becca, I didn't get on Kboards yesterday until your situation had already seen a turn-around...the thread was like a gut-churning page turner. What a despicable attempt on your writing--wishing him or her a big whopping dose of instant karma, and doing the happy dance that Amazon finally paid attention. I've downloaded Nolander, too, and look forward to reading.


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## Scila (Apr 13, 2014)

Wow, what an ordeal. I'm sorry this happened to you and glad it was resolved! Pretty scary that this could happen to anyone. Scammers are the worst and the bad news is that they can just move on, unpunished, to the next target this time hiding their tracks better.


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## Annabel Chant (Feb 24, 2015)

Hi Becca,

Have been at work the last few days, so have only just caught up with your good news. As I said, this has happened to at least one other author, so it is of concern to everyone. I'm so glad you got it resolved (and I've finally posted on the boards ). This is my first post! Hello to everyone!

Annabel


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## KL_Phelps (Nov 7, 2013)

SevenDays said:


> POI picked you up today, too!


just came to report the same, congrats!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Nessa Quill said:


> Although I missed the opportunity to send an email to Jeff Bezos, I too have been silently following this thread and am ridiculously ecstatic that everything worked out for you, Becca. Aside from being plagiarized, this has to be THE worst situation I've ever heard of in the publishing industry, traditional and indie. Nevertheless, good prevailed over evil thanks to your cool head and the enormous and undying support of the kboards community (you guys rock diamonds!).
> 
> I also downloaded _*Nolander*_ and, based on the great word-of-mouth so far in this thread about your masterpiece, I can't wait to read it.
> 
> Again, sincere congratulations on _*Nolander*_'s success and thanks for being an exemplary role model for us indies.


Oh my goodness. <blush!> Thank you! 

Everyone, please do keep in mind that I've been revising _Nolander_ because I thought it had weaknesses. Readerly expectations: sitting on them ... jumping on them ... squishing them ... making them pancakelike ... crepelike ... 



Scila said:


> Wow, what an ordeal. I'm sorry this happened to you and glad it was resolved! Pretty scary that this could happen to anyone. Scammers are the worst and the bad news is that they can just move on, unpunished, to the next target this time hiding their tracks better.


Yeah, this is what really concerns me. I'm not going to talk about it a lot -- the last thing I want to do is give anyone more ideas -- but I really think this is something Amazon and the other retailers need to get ahead of. If it's a one-off, great. But better to be safe(r) than sorry.

FWIW, I've gotten the impression that D2D is taking the situation particularly seriously. Kudos to them.



Annabel Chant said:


> Hi Becca,
> 
> Have been at work the last few days, so have only just caught up with your good news. As I said, this has happened to at least one other author, so it is of concern to everyone. I'm so glad you got it resolved (and I've finally posted on the boards ). This is my first post! Hello to everyone!
> 
> Annabel


Welcome, Annabel!


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## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

Becca Mills said:


> Everyone, please do keep in mind that I've been revising _Nolander_ because I thought it had weaknesses. Readerly expectations: sitting on them ... jumping on them ... squishing them ... making them pancakelike ... crepelike ...


Weaknesses? Are you serious? After 20 pages, I feel humbled and painfully aware of just how much my first novel sucks.


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## Ros_Jackson (Jan 11, 2014)

This was featured on Plagiarism Today, where Jonathan Bailey had some interesting things to say about the frequency of false DMCAs:

https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2015/03/04/defending-yourself-against-dmca-abuse/

Just because DMCA abuse hasn't been frequent in the past doesn't mean that it couldn't become so. I think the way Kboarders have rallied around Becca means one thing: anyone thinking of using this kind of abuse to silence an author or harm his or her career has at least one example of it backfiring spectacularly.


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## Annabel Chant (Feb 24, 2015)

Thanks Becca!


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## Tima Maria Lacoba (Apr 4, 2014)

Becca I'm so glad this has been resolved, but the stress you must have gone through is dreadful. I've read the recommendations you suggest online retailers ought to adopt to combat this situation in the future, and I think they're excellent. It's the only way to protect us indies from these types of career-endangering scams. I've downloaded your book and can't wait to read it


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

So glad you got your book back up Becca!

Just downloaded the book myself.

I went to Amazon and copied your blurb/bio/ and cover and you will have a featured ad tomorrow on Awesomegang. Figured you have been through enough so I made the listing manually. Good luck with getting the ranking back to where it once was. 

You know what is funny is this experience is probably going to help you with book sales over the long run. Your website has been linked to by a lot of places with good ranking because of this incident that will help your website organic reach with the search engines.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Vinny OHare said:


> So glad you got your book back up Becca!
> 
> Just downloaded the book myself.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much, Vinny! What a wonderfully kind gesture. I really appreciate it. 

A bit _thank you _to everyone else, too. So many lovely posts on this thread. I think I'll come back and read it whenever life gets me down. 

Yes, you might be right about some increased visibility, Vinny. I found the possibilities of this kind of scam worrisome, and I figured other writers would too, but I've been surprised at just how much the story has spread. It's even been picked up by some traditionally published authors, who probably (as a general group ... I'm sure there are exceptions) have less to worry about from scammers of this type.

I've been thinking about how retailers might handled DMCA stuff better in the future, and despite my position of near total ignorance about legal matters, I went ahead and wrote up some suggestions -- the ones Tima mentioned. What I'm really hoping is that someone with better ideas will come along and suggest them. So please, if you have, take a look and add your thoughts:

http://the-active-voice.com/2015/03/07/ebooks-and-dmca-abuse-a-few-suggestions-based-on-my-experience/

As I said in that post, hopefully this thing was directed at me personally and will thus be a one-off. But in the event I was a random target and this kind of scam becomes A Thing, retailers should be better prepared to work with authors to limit the damage instead of (not intentionally, of course) playing into scammers' hands, IMO.

Okay, off I go to grade papers (got a little behind last week ... ahem). I hereby hug and kiss you all in a way that's totally awkward and embarrassing and yet clearly respectful and platonic, so as not to annoy anyone's significant other. M'wah!


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Just came across this link and wondered if it was any use.

http://www.susanspann.com/how-to-prepare-and-use-a-dmca-takedown-notice/


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## MorganKegan (Jan 10, 2013)

Becca, I just finished Nolander and Solatium, back-to-back, and I have to say: OMG. Captivating characters, powerful writing, and a fresh, imaginative twist on legends and magic. I simply couldn't put them down. I just downloaded the related short story, Theriac, and eagerly await the next book in the series. Don't let this unfortunate event discourage you; keep writing wonderful stories.


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## DRMarvello (Dec 3, 2011)

^this^ I still say we need a like button.


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## MyraScott (Jul 18, 2014)

I agree!









Add your support to this thread:  Like Button for KBoards

And I too read the whole series so far. Loved it!


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

I'm *so* glad your book is back up, Becca. As many others have said, your demeanour and helpfulness have been hugely impressive. You've done a service for many!


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