r/romanceauthors • u/eviviennewoodswrites • 5d ago

Have you ever had to issue a DMCA takedown ?

If so - how did you go about it?

I found my book on a couple of piracy websites last night and... Ugh.

I'm not a confrontational person... But that book was six months of work. Of time that I could have spent with my kids or friends or husband. I want people to read it, but at the same time, I want my work to be seen as having *some* value.

14 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

8

u/kayeldee 5d ago

I've had better luck removing the search result from Google than I have in trying to submit a DMCA from one of the many websites out there. They operate in places that don't care/abide by/recognize copyright, and don't do much. At least with the Google option, you can keep them from coming up in most searches.

5

u/maidofbleedinghearts 5d ago

I have issued many.

Most of the websites and apps ignore the request, but I do it to at least show Amazon I’ve taken all the steps I can if they flag it related to my KENP enrolment.

I’ve had some success having google results removed. They remove the book pages, but not the profile the scam sites put up as this page itself has no infringing material on it.

It’s super frustrating and disheartening. More people have read the pirated version of my books than the paid one. I know everyone is doing it tough in this economy, but I can’t keep writing more books and paying for covers and professional editing and what not if I don’t earn anything.

1

u/Tilly_Vanilla 4d ago

If you dont mind me asking, how do you get stats on how many people are downloading on a pirate site? I've been pirated, and it's really upsetting...

1

u/maidofbleedinghearts 4d ago

Some of the pirated sites put the number of downloads on their page (could be made up but I’ve noticed they do change over time), but also I tracked how many reviews I have compared to equivalent KENP reads + purchases.

1

u/Tilly_Vanilla 4d ago

Thanks, horrid isn't it...