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Site Steals Fanfics/Stories and makes money on it

Discussion in 'General' started by Biigoh, Apr 16, 2015.

  1. Biigoh

    Biigoh Primordial Tanuki Moderator

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    So, I got a notice from FFML about a site that is stealing fanfics and works of fiction and then making a profit on them... I don't know about you, but this isn't kosher in my eyes.

    - - -

    Just found a notice about a site that is stealing fanfics to publish on a pay site of sorts.

    Just want to get the word out, so I'm copying the bit that alerted me to it (typed up by Obselescence - http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Obselescence). Take from it what you want, do with it what you like/need. I just posted this to inform all of you :)

    Quick announcement here that it's been discovered that an ebook website called Ebooks Tree - http://www.ebooks-tree.net/ has been caught selling peoples' fanfics without their knowledge or permission. This in the midst of a rash of other scandals involving fanfiction-stealing, which you can read more about here - http://besinaao3.tumblr.com/post/116281407120/theyre-at-it-again . Basically, the site's sent out some bots that harvested a bunch of stuff from popular Fanfiction venues, and they make money off of it via ad support and charging for access.

    Which is obviously not okay.

    Easy directions for filing a DMCA complaint so that you can get your stories pulled can be found here - http://besinaao3.tumblr.com/post/116303502520/ebooks-tree-com-update-and-getting-your-works.

    Quick links to Ebooks Tree's DMCA page - http://www.ebooks-tree.net/info.php?dmca and Contact Page - http://www.ebooks-tree.net/info.php?contacts here.

    So, uh, probably best to just do a quick scan for any stories you might have written that are near and dear to your heart (or checking around for your author name). If you find anything, make sure to file the proper complaints, and that'll hopefully contribute to ending this withering storm.

    Basically it's recommended to search for your pen-name, or story title, in conjunction with the site:ebooks-tree.net query.

    As an example, I did find Joseph Palmers - Seasons on there: http://www.ebooks-tree.net/ebook/13p36s.html. Tried to get the PDF, but it requires registration, which demands a credit card info due to 'licensing'. It's fanfiction. There is no licensing, there is only crediting. Heck, Joseph still has the stories up on his page: http://www.josephpalmer.com/fanfic/fanfic.shtml

    Cheers, Neko-
     
    Biigoh, Apr 16, 2015
    #1
    asdx, tighearnach, Lemonbarb and 13 others like this.
  2. wayne82444

    wayne82444 Experienced.

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    So after looking around this site a bit I'd advise anyone who wants to check if their work has been stolen to avoid the in-site search engine. It comes up with 0 results no matter what you put in it, even when I pick a random author/book name from else wear on the site and enter it.

    What makes it worse? Searching by author name lets you sort them by first letter, then second letter, then after that throwing them in a list randomly. Seriously, just clicked Ma for author search, and the first few entries on the list are:
    matthew cremer mary elizabeth braddon
    mark twain max nathan
    matt mahoney mary wollstonecraft shelley

    No organization whatsoever, and this is with 88 pages of Ma names listed.

    If there is anything good to be said about them stealing others work and charging for it, then at least it is a garbage site doing it. Not likely anyone actually would pay to use a site that bad, assuming anyone can even stomach to use it for free.
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2015
    wayne82444, Apr 16, 2015
    #2
    tighearnach, TmDagger, Zooboss and 2 others like this.
  3. Biigoh

    Biigoh Primordial Tanuki Moderator

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    Indeed But still... should check it
     
    Biigoh, Apr 19, 2015
    #3
  4. Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

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    Checked. Found none of my stuff on there. Yet.
     
    Ack, Apr 19, 2015
    #4
  5. Zooboss

    Zooboss Getting sticky.

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    Does anyone else get no results no matter what you search?

    Searching "palmer"
    books (0)

    Searching "joseph"
    books (0)

    EDIT: Nevermind, just saw that you search via google, not their site's search.
     
    Zooboss, Apr 19, 2015
    #5
  6. wayne82444

    wayne82444 Experienced.

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    Yeah, it is just the in site search engine that has problems, you can still use google to search it. My last post was specifically meant to say that their in site search engine doesn't work, not that you shouldn't search. At my guess that is deliberate, so people think "oh, they didn't steal my works then" once it gets out that they are stealing other peoples stuff. I also mentioned how unorganized they are because that really ties into the broken search engine for hiding things in the site.

    I edited my post to bold the "avoid the in-site search engine" part, just to make sure people realize I only meant that one, not that you shouldn't google it.
     
    wayne82444, Apr 19, 2015
    #6
    tighearnach, Plotvitalnpc, kinglugia and 3 others like this.
  7. Heaven Canceler

    Heaven Canceler Behind You!

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    I cannot reach the site, did someone take it down?
     
    Heaven Canceler, Apr 27, 2015
    #7