Let’s face it. Book pirating is a nightmare experience for indie authors. The fact is, there is little that can be done to stop them, but there are a few ways we can fight back. Since the takedown of Zlibrary in 2022, there’s been more talk of pirating in the book community.
So, how can we as authors fight back?
Here are a few steps you can take in the battle against pirates.
Step 1: File a DMCA Takedown Notice
The DMCA notice is the process where copyright holders to get material that infringes their copyrights taken down off of websites. The process entails the copyright owner or legal agent to send a takedown notice requesting the infringing site to remove material that is infringing their copyrights.
Take note that often pirated sites will ignore this, but sometimes it can be effective, especially if you must resort to legal action against them later.
The copyright noticer should include:
If you chose to do this on your own your DMCA notice should include:
- The authors signature (Legal name and Pen Name)
- The title of the copyrighted work
- A detailed description with screenshots of the infringement, including proof of your original work
- include your email address and any other information to allow the service provider to contact you
At times you will find a DMCA report area on the website, but many pirated sites don’t have this option. If they happen to have an email listed, you can send a direct takedown on your own.
A sample template can be found here: DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTICE
Step 2: Report to Google
The best way to fight a pirate is for their website to not be found on search engines. GOOGLE FIGHTING PIRACY INFORMATION
You may want to search on other search engines as well and report any infringing pirated sites.
Step 3: Government Takedown
This will vary from country to country, but in the US the lines are clear. The FBI is over the internet crimes unit and you can report violations here: stopfakes.gov
If you are outside of the US you many need to find what government agency takes care of internet crime, if any.
Step 4: Hosting Provider
Hosting pirated content has significant legal and financial consequences, and hosting providers have a responsibility to enforce copyright laws and take down infringing content when notified. Reminding them of this is important when filing a report that one of the websites using their servers is pirating content.
You can research any websites host at: hostingchecker.com
Step 5: Reminding Readers
Digital piracy is the act of downloading and or distributing copyrighted material and intellectual property without paying for it. It may be a good way to fight piracy by simply reminding readers that it is illegal to even download and read pirated material. In the US it can result in steep fines and imprisonment.
Despite the claim that some people can’t afford books, that’s simply not true. There are legitimate free options online without being involved in book theft. Pirating is taking money out of authors pockets where the majority of indie authors make less than $10k a year.
Reminding readers that there are free books available, and where to find them, is a great way to keep them from moving over to pirated sites. A reader magnet is a great way to do this. A reader magnet is a free book offered by the author for readers to enjoy and get a sample of your work. Many of those readers then become paying and loyal customers later on.
Loretta Kendall 