Ebook theft, part Two

[Dana_W]

So, I saw a post on Twitter from someone who said that he is reading a great Twitter ebook guide, and since I always can use more info, I clicked on the link, and there was this guy with MY entire ebook printed on his website, as a series of posts...PRESENTING IT AS IF HE WROTE IT!

So I immediately posted a comment on it, and posted several Tweets telling him that it was mine, that it was illegally uploaded, and that it needs to be taken off immediately.

I'm surprised he enabled comments on his blog! That gives me some hope that he's just an idiot rather than a deliberate thief.

I'm working on another ebook now, and yes, I will spend the extra time and money to make sure that it is harder to illegally reproduce, and yes, I know that this is the cost of doing business on the internet and it also means that I created something worth stealing, but man is it annoying. The last thing I want to be doing on a lovely Sunday afternoon is chasing down internet sleazeballs.

[Dana_W]

Also, I checked and he isn't on the Warrior Forum, can I post his name on here?

Oh, and my blog comment on his blog is "awaiting moderation". I'd bet you a large amount of cash THAT comment won't be approved!

So, lesson to Warriors - Encrypt your ebooks. Yes, it can be broken, but it will stop some people and at least slow them down.

[BIG Mike]

Sure...and send me the link to where he posted it. <sigh>

[Martin Luxton]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

Also, I checked and he isn't on the Warrior Forum, can I post his name on here?

Dana,

I'd be careful. He might be using a pen name here or on his blog.

Martin

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Martin Luxton

Dana,

I'd be careful. He might be using a pen name here or on his blog.

Martin

Well, that is possible. He has his picture on his blog, he's on Facebook...he still could be using pen names...but I get the impression that he's trying to present himself as a social media rock star (using other people's stolen content apparently)...so I do think he's using his real name.

[Kneb Knebaih]

Contact with a lawyer, expert in internet, and see what you can do.

I´m also sick and tired of this kind of people...

I´m seeing these days even WSOs posted on Mediafire and Rapidshare for free download, just hours after the Warrior author publish it here...

I even keep receiving emails (in my spam folder, of course) from "famous" IM people, asking to signup for a "Get any IM product for free" type of "products" and private forums...



PS: I love your Twitter background design. Congrats

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Kneb Knebaih

Contact with a lawyer, expert in internet, and see what you can do.

I´m also sick and tired of this kind of people...

I´m seeing these days even WSOs posted on Mediafire and Rapidshare for free download, just hours after the Warrior author publish it here...

I even keep receiving emails (in my spam folder, of course) from "famous" IM people, asking to signup for a "Get any IM product for free" type of "products" and private forums...

I am going to contact a lawyer this time, and I really hate to go through the expense, but it's necessary.

I recognize that internet theft is a fact of life, but when it's shoved in my face like this, I feel obligated to take action.

[JayXtreme]

The problem blog is Clarence Wang

@clarencewang on twitter

I am pretty certain he is not a member here

[Neil Morgan]

Hi Dana

I am going to contact a lawyer this time, and I really hate to go through the expense, but it's necessary.

Make sure you tell him you're going to do that. It might have the desired effect without the associated expense.

Cheers,

Neil

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by JayXtreme

The problem blog is Clarence Wang

@clarencewang on twitter

I am pretty certain he is not a member here

You're the best!

And by the way he urges people to send him free ebooks and then says he has 46 free ebooks that he will email you right away if you give him your name and email address.

How much you want to bet that most if not all of them are stolen?

On the bright side, yay, I'm worth stealing from.

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Neil Morgan

Hi Dana



Make sure you tell him you're going to do that. It might have the desired effect without the associated expense.

Cheers,

Neil

I will, but I also want to get some legal language and a standard letter to send to people doing this kind of stuff.

[Neil Morgan]

Hi Dana

I will, but I also want to get some legal language and a standard letter to send to people doing this kind of stuff.

Good idea. Look on it as an investment in your future, not as an annoying expense.

Cheers,

Neil

[BIG Mike]

I contacted the host and asked them to pull the site for DMCA...we'll see.

[JayXtreme]

Originally Posted by BIG Mike

I contacted the host and asked them to pull the site for DMCA...we'll see.

That makes two of us... so they gotta take note

YOU rock, Mike

Peace

Jay

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by JayXtreme

That makes two of us... so they gotta take note

YOU rock, Mike

Peace

Jay

You rock too dude!

I just had an image pop into my mind of a few of us riding in on horses humming the theme to Bonanza....

I want to be Hoss....

[AndyBlackSEO]

Originally Posted by Imran Naseem

What a loser Dana.

Dana PM me I can give you a list of all the sites where people share e-books.
These guys are scum of the earth. It really angers me when they do this.

I second that. People think they can just ride on others peoples success by stealing their hard work. They'll lose out in the end, but it is still annoying.

[JayXtreme]

Originally Posted by BIG Mike

I want to be Hoss....

I s'pose I'll assume the role of "Little Joe" then..lol..

[Richard Tunnah]

Hey Dana,
Sorry to hear this! That's annoying to say the least. A few years back when I sold my own ebooks on ebay they'd be at least 1 joker every month that would try and resell my ebook as theirs back on ebay for like $1 or something. Had to go through the whole warning them and proving to ebay. Got sorted each time but it's just a vast annoying waste of time and effort to fix.
I shall be only to happy to post a 'nice' comment on this guys blog for you.

Rich

[rosetrees]

Just posted a comment on the blog saying I'm sure he didn't write those posts. Bet it doesn't get approved.

[Roger Smith]

Dana, I just made a visit to that blog to see what was there, came back here and ordered the guide from you ( waiting for link ). I prefer to be one of the good guys. What can be done to people like him to stop the theft of other peoples hard work?

[MizzCindy]

Dana - that truly sucks! There's a special place in hell for folks like this. In the meantime, here's my little boost to the cause (I tweeted the following):

@clarencewang The twitter posts on your blog are @Dana_Wilhoit's work. Why try to pass them off as your own? FOLLOWERS - PLEASE RETWEET!

Hopefully, that'll get his attention.

Cindy

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by MizzCindy

Dana - that truly sucks! There's a special place in hell for folks like this. In the meantime, here's my little boost to the cause (I tweeted the following):

@clarencewang The twitter posts on your blog are @Dana_Wilhoit's work. Why try to pass them off as your own? FOLLOWERS - PLEASE RETWEET!

Hopefully, that'll get his attention.

Cindy

That's awesome! Since this guy is trying to build a following, hopefully, this will shame him into removing the book from his site.

The more I look at his site the more I'm sure that he's aware of what he's doing. When he urges people to send him free ebooks - I am SURE that he is not checking to make sure that the people who send him those ebooks actually own those ebooks.

So he gives away other people's work, using it to build his list and his reputation.

And he got a perfectly nice guy on Twitter linking to my illegally uploaded book, publicly saying check out this great Twitter resource - the guy immediately took the link down as soon as I tweeted about it - but he drags other people into this too.

[Sylvia Meier]

Dana I just tweeted about it too. Hope it brings more attention to the thief, I would be curious as to who owns the other 46 books.

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Sylvia Rolfe

Dana I just tweeted about it too. Hope it brings more attention to the thief, I would be curious as to who owns the other 46 books.

Thank you so much!

I'm dying to know so I could notify the people who actually created the books, but the only way to find out is to give this guy my name & email address and then he emails them. God knows how many people he's given away my book to, and other people's books. And I accept that I can't completely stop it any more than brick and mortar stores can stop shoplifters, but at the same time - I need to do what I can, because I make my living, pay my bills, and feed my kids with my products.

[Roger Smith]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

Thank you so much!

I'm dying to know so I could notify the people who actually created the books, but the only way to find out is to give this guy my name & email address and then he emails them. God knows how many people he's given away my book to, and other people's books. And I accept that I can't completely stop it any more than brick and mortar stores can stop shoplifters, but at the same time - I need to do what I can, because I make my living, pay my bills, and feed my kids with my products.

I checked out the other ebooks and oddly enough they link to the original authors. Whats this guys game anyway.

[Angela V. Edwards]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

Also, I checked and he isn't on the Warrior Forum, can I post his name on here?

Oh, and my blog comment on his blog is "awaiting moderation". I'd bet you a large amount of cash THAT comment won't be approved!

So, lesson to Warriors - Encrypt your ebooks. Yes, it can be broken, but it will stop some people and at least slow them down.

Yeah, I totally hear you. I've seen my monthly backlinks listed on blogs and such an presented as if they were the blog owner's 'finds'. All the "good job, what great links" just make me mad. And I always comment, but comments are moderated. And I KNOW that my comment isn't going to be approved. It's really maddening, isn't it? And I don't find the "Well, it's the Internet. This stuff happens" comments very helpful.

[kf]

I posted this to his blog as Sally Forth ... I'm sure it won't show up, but:

Dude. Why are you stealing other people's products and claiming them as your own???

Somebody should kick your sorry a** to the curb.

--- Interesting that the only comment on that post is Danli W --- An intentional close typo to Dana W ????

Good luck with this. Some people have more hutzpah than brains.

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Roger Smith

I checked out the other ebooks and oddly enough they link to the original authors. Whats this guys game anyway.

Clarence Wang. Haven't heard back from him on Twitter, or by email, which does not surprise me.

The thing is, his blog presents my ebook as if he wrote it, which is lame even if someone had legitimately given him a free ebook that they found somewhere.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

The thing is, his blog presents my ebook as if he wrote it, which is lame even if someone had legitimately given him a free ebook that they found somewhere.

I wonder, though, if someone could have sold it to him as PLR.

I doubt that's the case, but it's a possibility.

[J Elizabeth Dize]

I signed up to his list just now with an e-mail I don't often use to see if he was stealing others' work...it's simply a list of where to get other people's ebooks to download and sign up for their lists. Weird.

He also says something "funny"

Most of these require an email address and put you on a list (which you can unsubscribe from), some of the books have affiliate links embedded in them and some will try to sell you some offer when you go to download the book. Such is the nature of Internet marketers - they are usually out to sell you something in one way or another!

Those marketers

Dana, It really stinks that this happened to you. The good news is it seems like you've got some good men on your side already, so hopefully he'll be shut down in no time!

[SuzanneH]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

I wonder, though, if someone could have sold it to him as PLR.

I doubt that's the case, but it's a possibility.

It's definitely a possibility. I bought a PLR ebook from a "warrior" here which was a complete rewrite of a Clickbank product. He pleaded ignorance and blamed it on his ghostwriter, but I didn't get the impression he was that concerned about it...

Suzanne

[jonhel]

Although I was advised by many people that using a compiler was a no-no for my recent ebook project for a client, I'm relieved that I did.

No copying and no sharing possible.

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by kf

I posted this to his blog as Sally Forth ... I'm sure it won't show up, but:

Dude. Why are you stealing other people's products and claiming them as your own???

Somebody should kick your sorry a** to the curb.

--- Interesting that the only comment on that post is Danli W --- An intentional close typo to Dana W ????

Good luck with this. Some people have more hutzpah than brains.

I noticed that!!! Very curious, that he had a name which sounded close to mine, commenting on the blog.



It's still sitting there. And God knows how long it was up there - it was absolute pure luck that I noticed that.

[Dana_W]

TRIUMPH!!!!! I just got off the live customer chat with his webhost. NOW visit his site: http://www.clarencewang.com/blog/int...twitter-guide/

They had me give them the link to where I had MY stuff hosted - very clearly long before his - And down it went.

HA!!!

[MizzCindy]

Yippee!

I'm so glad your stuff was taken down. It's really too bad they didn't shut him down entirely, but this is certainly a victory nonetheless!

Cindy

[Dana_W]

Here's the email he just sent me - AFTER I had his site taken down. It is now back up minus my ebook.



Hi Dana,

This is Clarence here, i have received your message, and appologies from me
if there is anything that voilating your copyright. I have outsourced this
work to another guy which I will hunt him down, and get my money back if
those are not original content. Also will get those removed in 24 hours from
my web site, again please accept my sincere appologies for all the
inconvenience caused.

[Alan Petersen]

Good work Dana! That's one of the top excuses when thieves get busted...it wasn't me--I'm also the victim of the evil ghostwriter/designer/graphics guy/butler but never ever them. I'm sure he did this all on his own and didn't take it serious until you shut him down. Awesome job dealing with this pond scum!

Originally Posted by Dana_W

Here's the email he just sent me - AFTER I had his site taken down. It is now back up minus my ebook.



Hi Dana,

This is Clarence here, i have received your message, and appologies from me
if there is anything that voilating your copyright. I have outsourced this
work to another guy which I will hunt him down, and get my money back if
those are not original content. Also will get those removed in 24 hours from
my web site, again please accept my sincere appologies for all the
inconvenience caused.

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

Good work Dana! That's one of the top excuses when thieves get busted...it wasn't me--I'm also the victim of the evil ghostwriter/designer/graphics guy/butler but never ever them. I'm sure he did this all on his own and didn't take it serious until you shut him down. Awesome job dealing with this pond scum!

No kidding. He did give me the name of the SEO person that he CLAIMED sold him the outsourced work but I'm skeptical.

Considering what Tiffany just went through, I guess I should be relieved that at least I was dealing with someone who was polite and not abusive when contacted.

[Chris Lockwood]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

TRIUMPH!!!!! I just got off the live customer chat with his webhost. NOW visit his site: http://www.clarencewang.com/blog/int...twitter-guide/

Way to go! Although when I go to that site I want to see a parking page or some other indication that the whole thing is gone.

[Mike Hill]

Notice how he contacted you the minute his site went down but not a second before that..?

I wouldn't believe a word he says.. outsourced it? Yeah right, he just needed someone to pass the buck too and blaming outsources is an easy out.

Mike Hill

[TheInternetWorkshop]

Dana -1 Clarence - 0

Let's hope it stays that way.


The Crazy Internet Dude

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Mike Hill

Notice how he contacted you the minute his site went down but not a second before that..?

I wouldn't believe a word he says.. outsourced it? Yeah right, he just needed someone to pass the buck too and blaming outsources is an easy out.

Mike Hill

Yeah, I spent an entire day posting on his blog, posting on Twitter, trying to get ahold of him...nothing...when I called his hosting service and got his site taken down...you wouldn't BELIEVE how fast I heard from him.

[NewbiesDiary]

well done Dana - it makes me wonder how much of his other content is actually his

[Lloyd Buchinski]

And would you believe people actually watch tv for excitement, drama,
personalities, news and shows where the good people win?

Nice to hear that the site is down.

[borilbogoev]

Hi Dana, I am sorry to hear about stealing your ebook. I hate thieves, too!

[The Lady]

i'm just reading this today. Dana I'm so happy that you won this unfortunate battle. It should never have been an issue, but at least the hosting company was quick to fix the problem when you got to them!

its to bad jerks like this can't be beaten to a pulp

[Frank Bruno]

I'm a little late into this but You did the right thing Dana by contacting his host and keeping your cool.

I'm surprised his host didn't shut his site down.

The lowest I tell ya.

Well he made a "name" for himself alright, a name that any ligitimate marketer with morals would never hope to aquire.

Frank Bruno

[TeamGlobal]

Hi Dana,

Sorry to hear that happened to you but very glad to hear that you took action and got the desired results.

All The Best,


Tony

[Michael Oksa]

Hi Dana,

Glad you got results on this one.

In my opinion, his host should have shut his site down completely. At least until it got complete evidence that EVERY product was his to distribute.

Dana - 1
Clarenece - 0
40+ other authors - 0

Maybe that's the key. Boycot hosts that allow this stuff.

All the best,
Michael

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

In my opinion, his host should have shut his site down completely. At least until it got complete evidence that EVERY product was his to distribute.

Wouldn't that put the host in the position of being the publisher? And, as such, wouldn't that increase the host's liability for hosting sites? Whereas, such as it is, they only need to respond to a specific request and not check content that is not being challenged.

I'm all for getting thieves shut down, but let's be careful about doing things that would negatively impact legitimate websites as well.

Let's say that, for the sake of argument, that the site owner was scammed by a content writer. Let's say he hired John Doe to write some content. John Doe copied and pasted content from an eBook and sold it to the site owner. The site owner looks it over, checks it with Copyscape and, if the book is not indexed in search engines which is probably the case, doesn't find a match. So, he figures all is okay, pays the writer and puts the content on his site.

Along with that content, he has content from maybe dozens of other writers. But, John Doe is the only scammer here.

The eBook owner finds their stolen content and requests it be taken down. But, then the host demands that the site owner prove that he has the rights to use all of his remaining content? How will he do that? Fax or eMail over all the contracts and payment records he has of the various writers to show that he did indeed contract with those writers to produce his content? And, what about the content he created himself? How will he prove that he did that content himself?

John Doe himself might have provided the site owner with a contract of work.

And what does that really solve anyway? For a legitimate site owner, it results in lost time and perhaps lost income, all due to the "writer" who scammed him. And, odds are he's not going to be able to track down or possibly afford to go after the writer for damages.

On the other hand, a scam site owner could just fake all the documentation. After all, if he's not above stealing other people's work and claiming it as his own, he's no doubt not above faking documentation or doing whatever is necessary to claim he wrote the content or hired it out to other writers.

How do you prove you didn't plagiarize work that you didn't plagiarize?

I don't think we want to do things that would penalize legitimate web site owners, especially those that are trying to do the right thing to begin with. I mean, if a site owner has hired dozens of freelance writers to create content for him, but gets his entire site taken down because of the actions of just one of those writers, and then has to gather all his documentation from all his writers and all the content they created for him, and then prove to his web hosting company that he has the rights to that content, what do you think that's going to do to the freelance writing market? He might decide it's much less hassle to do his own writing or hire an in-house writer he can supervise, etc.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for punishing the thieves and scammers out there, but I don't want to do things that are just going to end up making more problems for legitimate site owners while really doing little to impact the thieves and scammers. As has been mentioned, these guys can just start up a new site under a new domain and be off and running again; meanwhile, the legitimate website owner that's tied to a particular domain name is hit with a double-whammy--first he gets scammed by a writer and then he gets his entire site down until he can prove he's innocent.