BE Warned - Forget About Trying PLR on Kindle (KDP)

by Jim M
60 replies
Hi Folks,

I know there have been many versions of what you should and shouldn't do on kindle - this just happened yesterday - so it's fresh info..

I, like many here have more than my fair share of plr stuff on my hard drive, so I decided to extensively rewrite and publish one of them....

I made a completely new cover, re did the contents, which were actually a compliation of seven reports and I added two more chapters...... the result...

Within a few hours I got a response asking me why I was publishing content which was freely available online, and asking me to prove what right I had to publish it.....

I responded suggesting that much of what is published is freely available online, and that someone has taken the time to research, compile, design cover etc. I also had to produce the licence I was given, you know - the pdf file with plr rights etc.... otherwise they wanted details of all the websites I had taken this information from!!

I posting the response below....

"Please be advised that you must hold exclusive publishing rights for books that closely match content that is freely available on the web. If your catalog continues to contain books that fail to comply with these conditions or do not meet our Content Guidelines, your account may be terminated."

they also gave me a link to their Content Guidlines....

"Public Domain and Other Non-Exclusive Content
Some types of content, such as public domain content, may be free to use by anyone, or may be licensed for use by more than one party. We will not accept content that is freely available on the web unless you are the copyright owner of that content. For example, if you received your book content from a source that allows you and others to re-distribute it, and the content is freely available on the web, we will not accept it for sale on the Kindle store. We do accept public domain content, however we may choose to not sell a public domain book if its content is undifferentiated or barely differentiated from one or more other books"

I hope you find this useful - and it keeps you on the right side of KDP - on the upside, at least they didn't shut me down

Jim M
#forget #kdp #kindle #plr #warned
  • Profile picture of the author petemcal
    Thanks for the info, I'm not a kindle publisher myself but it's interesting to hear about how they actually go about enforcing these rules etc.

    Back to the drawing board I guess, good luck for your next launch!
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    • Profile picture of the author Jim M
      Originally Posted by petemcal View Post

      Thanks for the info, I'm not a kindle publisher myself but it's interesting to hear about how they actually go about enforcing these rules etc.

      Back to the drawing board I guess, good luck for your next launch!

      Thanks.... I already run another publishing company, this was more of an experiment to see if I could use any of the stuff I've accumulated..... just thought I'm sure many are considering what the use do on kindle, looks like even well re-done stuff will be difficult to get past them.
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  • Amazon cracked down on publishing PLR on kindle a while back. Not surprising really, as there were tons of identical PLR books (just different covers and authors). It's best to use completely original content now otherwise you stand a good chance of having your account closed.

    I had a few books up at the beginning of last year (rewritten content) and some did quite well but when Amazon decided to get tough the books were kicked out - got a response similar to your. Now I only publish original content, very small scale at the moment though.

    At least they do give you a warning and explain what the issue is so that you can rectify the situation. All in all, I think that it was an excellent decision on Amazon's part.

    Chow chow,
    Kevin
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  • Profile picture of the author GAVROCHE
    Jim, your post will help a lot of people thinking of starting to publish on Kindle.

    Newbies should know that Amazon started to take action against PLR in 2011 (Oct if I remember well...) which is great, Google is on his way to do the same, anyone without original content will be penalized.
    PLR can be useful for Kindle publishers only as a source of information to write something different using several PLRs and other sources.
    Public domain available on digital form online should be avoided too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Wolfe
    Wow Amazon must've teamed up with Google
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  • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
    About flippin Time!

    Will
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    • Profile picture of the author Robert H Cwik
      Originally Posted by Will Edwards View Post

      About flippin Time!

      Will
      Paradigm shift!
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  • Profile picture of the author Fun to Write
    Good info for newbies to Kindle. Writing books take work, and you either are willing and able to do that work yourself, or you'll need to find a quality writer and pay them to produce original books for you. These are the only two options for those wanting to make Kindle their main business opportunity.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      I'm sorry. This isn't meant to target anyone but just a social commentary.

      Why must marketers try and junk up everything they enter? Frankly I wouldn't even have thought of trying to submit PLR and Amazon shouldn't even need to explain. This isn't some website or blog thing. This is what is the present and future of book publishing. Being an author used to be and for many people still is a thing of respectability.

      Quote from sources, the internet is at your finger tip to do all kinds of research. Previous generations would have killed to be able to learn and become nearly experts on almost anything while sitting in their jammies at home. For the love of some standards write your own stuff whenever you say you are writing a book regardless of why you are writing it and regardless if its $10 or free.

      Don't take the crappy we can put up anything when marketing to the book publishing world too. There are some things that though not sacred should be close to it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

        Why must marketers try and junk up everything they enter?
        Amen to that. I hope Amazon continues to be vigilant in their war against PLR garbage.
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      • Profile picture of the author allpurposeguru
        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

        I'm sorry. This isn't meant to target anyone but just a social commentary.

        Why must marketers try and junk up everything they enter? Frankly I wouldn't even have thought of trying to submit PLR and Amazon shouldn't even need to explain. This isn't some website or blog thing. This is what is the present and future of book publishing. Being an author used to be and for many people still is a thing of respectability.

        Quote from sources, the internet is at your finger tip to do all kinds of research. Previous generations would have killed to be able to learn and become nearly experts on almost anything while sitting in their jammies at home. For the love of some standards write your own stuff whenever you say you are writing a book regardless of why you are writing it and regardless if its $10 or free.

        Don't take the crappy we can put up anything when marketing to the book publishing world too. There are some things that though not sacred should be close to it.
        Thanks for writing this. I bought a few PLR things a while ago and found them universally crappy. I was looking for a free report to build a mailing list and extensively edited what seemed to be the best of a sorry lot.

        After a while, I wrote something of my own for a much shorter free report and wondered if the longish PLR book would work for me on Kindle. I personally checked all the statistics (which turned out all to obsolete at best, totally wrong at worst), junked a bunch of the original content, found some all new material, and rearranged everything to more closely resemble the structure of my new free report. Oh, and I added references at the end of each chapter so readers could follow up and, in a few years, find current statistics. It's 125 Ways to Go Green and Save Green at the Same Time

        By the time I was finished, I had legitimately written the book, although I'm grateful to have a PLR took to use for a point of departure. In the process of publishing it to Kindle, I found what for all the world looks like the original PLR book, complete with the original cover.

        Just because you bought the right to put your name on someone else's work and sell it does not mean it's worth trying to use Amazon's marketing muscle instead of your own!
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        • Profile picture of the author aprilm
          I completely agree with Amazon's decision to reject PLR material. I, myself, would be pretty upset if I bought information off Amazon only to find out it is freely available on the web.

          Unfortunately, I still see PLR content on Amazon. But it's only a matter of time before it gets the boot.
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  • Profile picture of the author Amy Harrop
    PLR can be great for research, and you can certainly use it as a starting place for your organizing, outlining and writing of unique content. It doesn't need to be discarded simply because you cannot use it as is.

    If you want to publish to the Kindle, everything you submit should be unique. It's always good to run your content through Copyscape, particularly if you are getting your writing outsourced.
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  • it sucks! I think with my bad grammer and spelling I will not have this problem, lets see I'm about to put my first kindle out can't wait to see why they will ban me!
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  • Profile picture of the author Mary Davis
    PLR can be a great resource to create your own free reports or bonus products, but not for Kindle.

    This is another example of how important it is to know your marketing platform and their terms of service. Glad they at least give you a warning first.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
      There were a bunch of WSO's and low cost products that were sold to show people how to load PLR books up by the ton to Amazon and the marketplace got inundated with that and then inundated with complaints about duplicate content. And Amazon needs customers.

      They don't particularly care whether you bought Marketer A's course on how to "Reduce Amazon To A Sniveling Puppy" or whatever macho name is put on it, they have an authentic business that they built.

      Interestingly, many people who market products and services off the Warrior Forum do very well in a number of areas witout ever getting their products or services slapped. It is not about being a good or a bad marketer, it is about the perception that you are willing to project into the world. If someone insists on trying to build a business based on loopholes, and secret tricks and backdoors to instant wealth, like mass uploading PLR books to Amazon, that says a lot about their business model.

      I have no issue with PLR, I have sold a bunch of it. But if you want sell books in a marketplace where people are looking to buy information your information needs to be unique or at lest presented in a unique way.
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      • Profile picture of the author Cali16
        Personally, I'm glad Amazon is not allowing people to sell repackaged PLR as Kindle books. It's a good reminder for those Internet marketers who prefer to be lazy and take every possible shortcut just to make a fast buck.

        I understand the argument that someone took the time to research and compile information (obtained from other sources) so it's all in a nice package for the benefit of the reader. However, to sell it as your own work (not aiming this at the OP) still isn't okay, and I think that's the issue here.

        There's a lot of opportunity with Kindle, but what you sell there should be unique; not rewritten or repackaged public domain stuff or PLR. But doing so takes a lot of time and effort (or money to hire someone else to write it for you). And many people don't want to make that kind of investment.

        Kindle has been yet another money-making venue quickly exploited by Internet marketers. Kudos to Amazon for setting some clear boundaries to help prevent such exploitation.
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        • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
          Originally Posted by Cali16 View Post

          Personally, I'm glad Amazon is not allowing people to sell repackaged PLR as Kindle books. It's a good reminder for those Internet marketers who prefer to be lazy and take every possible shortcut just to make a fast buck.

          I understand the argument that someone took the time to research and compile information (obtained from other sources) so it's all in a nice package for the benefit of the reader. However, to sell it as your own work (not aiming this at the OP) still isn't okay, and I think that's the issue here.

          There's a lot of opportunity with Kindle, but what you sell there should be unique; not rewritten or repackaged public domain stuff or PLR. But doing so takes a lot of time and effort (or money to hire someone else to write it for you). And many people don't want to make that kind of investment.

          Kindle has been yet another money-making venue quickly exploited by Internet marketers. Kudos to Amazon for setting some clear boundaries to help prevent such exploitation.
          By the time the systems to upload tons of stuff to Amazon came out for public sale, the PLR idea on Kindle was already dying. That is why the idea got shut down so quickly right after the products came out. And then when the second wave of PLR Kindle copycat products came out, it was really dead.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    KDP just recently closed shop on merchants who were selling PLR. But, there's alot of money to be made from using your products and selling them on your website. Not sure if Smashwords works in the same way.
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  • Profile picture of the author aroth
    I'm glad they did, marketers will kill the marketplace loading it with crap PLR. Thank you kindle.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    Guys this has been going on since late last year at least.

    Even heavily edited PLR, it's a no go on Kindle and for good reason.

    Old news here, just someone who's come across it for the first time. No offense to the OP Jim M, of course.

    About time?

    No, it's already been going on...if you want to be a part of the most powerful book/ebook marketplace in the world, come up with original, unique content. Simple.
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    • Profile picture of the author 512 Designs
      If you completely rewrite a PLR product and it looks nothing like the original, how is it still PLR? Isn't it now new and unique with your own copyright?

      How does Kindle even know it was originally PLR if you did a complete re-write with a new title and graphics?
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      • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
        Originally Posted by 512 Designs View Post

        If you completely rewrite a PLR product and it looks nothing like the original, how is it still PLR? Isn't it now new and unique with your own copyright?

        How does Kindle even know it was originally PLR if you did a complete re-write with a new title and graphics?
        My thoughts also.

        If it were an extensive rewrite it should be completely unidentifiable in contrast.
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  • Profile picture of the author vCr8
    IMHO... PLR should be fine to be used as freebies... Not on kindle, it might be good enough though if you have completely rewritten it from contents to graphics... Well in that sense it is a whole new one not just a PLR..
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  • Profile picture of the author xparte
    You might have a problem even if you write original content. My book was not accepted at KDP at first with a claim that it wasn't an original work(it was 100%), although it was published just fine. It took several emails until someone did a manual review and enrolled it in KDP. They didn't explain, but I just presume that the subject matter (traveling on frequent miles and points) gave them a pause, because it could look like PLR, I guess.

    I even offered to send them a copy of my Copyright Certificate from the Library of Congress, which I believe is a good idea to have just in case.
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    • Profile picture of the author research
      Originally Posted by xparte View Post

      You might have a problem even if you write original content. My book was not accepted at KDP at first with a claim that it wasn't an original work(it was 100%), although it was published just fine. It took several emails until someone did a manual review and enrolled it in KDP. They didn't explain, but I just presume that the subject matter (traveling on frequent miles and points) gave them a pause, because it could look like PLR, I guess.

      I even offered to send them a copy of my Copyright Certificate from the Library of Congress, which I believe is a good idea to have just in case.
      How is it possible . . . that an ebook could look like PLR

      What exactly does PLR look like . . .

      Does Amazon have a secret PLR detection system ???
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    It still baffles me that anyone thought putting PLR on Amazon and selling it as a book would be good in the first place. To make it worse, you even had some so called "experts" here on the forum selling courses on how to do this and they end up causing many people to have their Amazon accounts banned for life.
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    • Profile picture of the author edlewis
      Originally Posted by Paul Gram View Post

      It still baffles me that anyone thought putting PLR on Amazon and selling it as a book would be good in the first place. To make it worse, you even had some so called "experts" here on the forum selling courses on how to do this and they end up causing many people to have their Amazon accounts banned for life.
      I'm with you on this one...

      Even posted a thread here about it awhile back - http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...heir-spam.html

      ...and that was 7 months BEFORE the sh#t really hit the fan and Fast Company published this article mentioning the WarriorForum by name.

      Unmasking A Digital Pirate On Amazon | Fast Company

      And then this post here - http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...eople-did.html


      You are correct about those selling this nonsense. The problem was many of these self-proclaimed "experts" never made a dime on Kindle, but made a ton telling others just how "easy" it was to simply "cut-and-paste" your way to Kindle profits.

      That said, not all of the blame can be placed on the sellers....the buyers were at fault too.

      Many of them simply bought programs that told them what they wanted to hear - that making money on Kindle was as easy as buying $3 PLR and cut-and-pasting it to Kindle!

      They didn't want to buy REAL info that told them it would take things like EFFORT and maybe even a little (gasp!)....WORK!
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  • Profile picture of the author TeamTCW
    However, in term of banning an account, Amazon is not so strict as Google Adsense.
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetex Marketing
    Thanks for the heads up! I was planning to do something similar but now I am dropping the plan.
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    • Profile picture of the author madison_avenue
      There are just some titles that look PLRish! Even if a PLR book is rewritten is a smart reader, which Amazon editors must be, you can sense it is not an original work but derivative.

      Giveaways are spammy titles, small number of pages, boring generic prose - no real author 'voice', certain niches i.e lose weight. Who is the author, does he'she write other books in this field?
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      • Profile picture of the author research
        Originally Posted by madison_avenue View Post

        There are just some titles that look PLRish! Even if a PLR book is rewritten is a smart reader, which Amazon editors must be, you can sense it is not an original work but derivative.

        Giveaways are spammy titles, small number of pages, boring generic prose - no real author 'voice', certain niches i.e lose weight. Who is the author, does he'she write other books in this field?
        How exactly does do some ebook titles look PLRish ???

        What criteria detects a PLR ebook . . .
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  • Profile picture of the author brettb
    Be wary of stuff that's already in the public domain. I got a copyright message from YouTube saying I'd used a commercial track.

    Well I did some research and it turns out that somebody else had copied the original open source track and claimed ownership of it!
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Not aiming at anyone particular here...

      If someone "extensively rewrites" PLR material and it still gets called out as PLR material, just how "extensive" was the rewrite? :confused:
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  • Profile picture of the author LarryC
    << Within a few hours I got a response asking me why I was publishing content which was freely available online, and asking me to prove what right I had to publish it.....

    I responded suggesting that much of what is published is freely available online, and that someone has taken the time to research, compile, design cover etc. I also had to produce the licence I was given, you know - the pdf file with plr rights etc.... otherwise they wanted details of all the websites I had taken this information from!! >>

    That's a little scary. As you say, almost any information is freely available online. So even if you write on a popular subject and don't use PLR, you could be accused of this. The same is true for non fiction print books, of course. How many articles, reports or books contain 100% original information?

    I appreciate the need for quality control and to crack down on PLR. But it's also likely that some innocent authors will be targeted in the process.
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    • Profile picture of the author iSoftware
      It's so easy to create original content if you use the right tools.
      As an example take Stephen King...
      Ever notice how all of his story have a certain feel to it. The trick it to use tried and tested story "templates" - more like universal, timeless plots - but original content from the jump.

      I recently read that the size of the self publishing industry is something like $17 Billion. So there is massive room for everyone. If you just add value to readers and take "ethical" shortcuts....
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      • Profile picture of the author JamSlam
        I am really happy that amazon is making the quality better for all of us. The way I look at it is that they are forcing me to be more creative with my work to produce a better product. Fantastic.
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  • Profile picture of the author March Meadow
    Well done, Amazon! Whatever criteria they used to determine crappy, regurgitated plr, it worked in the case of the OP.

    I watched a replay of a so-called kindle webinar last night and the promoter of the $997 (!) course at the back of the webinar, was proud that his young daughter was making 4 figures a month sell 3-4 page "books" on kindle. Even if i believed that this was true, i'd hope the Amazon B.S. Filter would ban whatever accounts they'd set up to scam the system and hoodwink their customers.

    That's what gets marketing a bad name and which will eventually strangle the kindle market (if Amazon ever lets its guard down) in the same way that the ebook market has been decimated by opportunist, valueless tosh.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joan Altz
    That's pretty much old news about plr and Kindle, but it's always good to have a reminder post now and then for new people coming on board.
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  • Yes I agree 100%! Stay away from PLR with Amazon. I once received a warning myself. There are some people that try to sell you WSOs/information products on how to make money by selling PLR on Amazon, stay away! You'll get banned from Amazon Kindle DP!
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  • Profile picture of the author gpwilson
    Thanks jim for your wonderful info.
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  • Profile picture of the author calrelations
    Jim,
    Thanks for sharing this info!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      You could conclude, by reading threads like this and others, that PLR is just an acronym for the lowliest form of personal waste. Or said another way, PLR = CRAP.

      I have not found that to be the case ... IF ... you recognize and understand the proper uses for, and limitations of, this form of "done for you" copywriting.

      Many folks who try to be authors shouldn't.

      Many folks don't know how to properly form a sentence, a paragraph, or even a headline.

      Many folks have a writing style that is totally B-O-R-I-N-G and so full of fluff that you could mistake it for a Boston Cream Pie.

      Many folks simply can't explain in writing how to tie a shoe so that others can follow along.

      There are a ton of ethical, smart, and good uses for quality PLR content. It may not be well-suited for Kindle, but don't dismiss this alternative simply because "you've heard" that PLR sucks.

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      • Profile picture of the author itservicebiz
        Thanks for sharing. It makes sense, I can see how publishers and distributors of content do not want a marketplace full of like or very similar content but there are challenges for authors.

        One of the biggest challenges I believe authors and content originators face is that even by creating and publishing unique content you can be flagged. For example Squidoo's new system is so strict that I have heard cases where original content is locked and deleted. With so much content online it is likely, especially with fewer words, that somewhere out there in vast cyberspace someone in the world has written and is sharing content similar.

        The biggest frustration is once your content is flagged, locked, or deleted the appeal process is horrid because the presumption is people are guilty until proven innocent and companies have so much content constantly coming in that hiring staff for an appeal process for content they don't need is a direct expense in the gutter. In Squidoo's case search in Google and you will find countless people complaining about their appeals not even receiving replies.
        Sometimes depending on earnings generated by content an account termination or content deletion can lead to financial loss for the author. In the real world if someone gets fired they have an appeal process that is formalized until a result (done with due diligence) and the employer must pay wages for earnings to date. Justice is sometimes blind but in the court system people are innocent until proven guilty.

        Content originators and authors will experience the growing pains of these rules and regulations enforced by each company. My advice is to make sure your content is completely unique and contains more words than less and if possible unique images, etc.

        Having said that I believe in generally there is nothing wrong with PLR content and people sharing content. PLR, resell rights, and licensing is nothing new. If people license content and choose to make money from adding to, modifying or using as is the content then its a business and they should be able to do so. It's not a new concept and has been happening in life long before the Internet.

        * Should publishing sites have a better process for managing content and rights?

        * Should sites take extreme measures or allow PLR / licensed content but with penalty or a special listing?

        * Should there be an appeal processes with due diligence that companies must invest in and follow (should it be regulated by the Government or an independent body)? Do people at least deserve a reply and reason if banned, terminated, locked, or blocked?

        * If an account is terminated should payout be made to the account holder of funds that have accumulated to date (should this be Governed under employment law)?

        * Should people that report content be reviewed themselves (sometimes affiliate marketers that purchase the same content (PLR packages, etc. ) report content without cause to get their competitors content deleted so that theirs remains and gets all the traffic -- example is YouTube)

        There are many more questions, but just my 2 cents. This topic is much bigger and is a real social and human rights issue.
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        • Profile picture of the author itservicebiz
          P.S.

          All these companies and services provide real value and are great communities that offer many benefits to people and society as a whole. I support, love and use these services but my point is that like everything in life there are growing pains that sometimes affect everyone until a point of maturity in the marketplace or until Government or laws catch up the to industry.

          The reality is that original content authors do and will suffer from companies trying to enforce unique content rules until either a) more time and care is invested into appeal processes, and b) the systems, processes and procedures mature.
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  • Profile picture of the author research
    Originally Posted by Jim M View Post

    Hi Folks,

    I know there have been many versions of what you should and shouldn't do on kindle - this just happened yesterday - so it's fresh info..

    I, like many here have more than my fair share of plr stuff on my hard drive, so I decided to extensively rewrite and publish one of them....

    I made a completely new cover, re did the contents, which were actually a compliation of seven reports and I added two more chapters...... the result...

    Within a few hours I got a response asking me why I was publishing content which was freely available online, and asking me to prove what right I had to publish it.....

    I responded suggesting that much of what is published is freely available online, and that someone has taken the time to research, compile, design cover etc. I also had to produce the licence I was given, you know - the pdf file with plr rights etc.... otherwise they wanted details of all the websites I had taken this information from!!

    I posting the response below....

    "Please be advised that you must hold exclusive publishing rights for books that closely match content that is freely available on the web. If your catalog continues to contain books that fail to comply with these conditions or do not meet our Content Guidelines, your account may be terminated."

    they also gave me a link to their Content Guidlines....

    "Public Domain and Other Non-Exclusive Content
    Some types of content, such as public domain content, may be free to use by anyone, or may be licensed for use by more than one party. We will not accept content that is freely available on the web unless you are the copyright owner of that content. For example, if you received your book content from a source that allows you and others to re-distribute it, and the content is freely available on the web, we will not accept it for sale on the Kindle store. We do accept public domain content, however we may choose to not sell a public domain book if its content is undifferentiated or barely differentiated from one or more other books"

    I hope you find this useful - and it keeps you on the right side of KDP - on the upside, at least they didn't shut me down

    Jim M
    Is it possible that the folks over at Kindle have some sort of PLR Detector ???

    Otherwise I really would like to know they can detect what is and what is not Private Label Rights material . . .

    Please don't tell me that all PLR is rubbish, because it is not.

    And what about all the total rubbish, garbage, junk that floats about under the guise of being original content.
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    • Profile picture of the author PerformanceMan
      Originally Posted by research View Post

      Is it possible that the folks over at Kindle have some sort of PLR Detector ???

      Otherwise I really would like to know they can detect what is and what is not Private Label Rights material . . .

      Please don't tell me that all PLR is rubbish, because it is not.

      And what about all the total rubbish, garbage, junk that floats about under the guise of being original content.
      They used a search engine, I would imagine.
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      • Profile picture of the author Sandra Martinez
        I contacted Amazon a month ago about a plr package and what was their position about it.

        I wrote it, only sold 10 copies. I posted the material after giving some time to the first sellers to take action and, essentially, the material shows as mine on the web.

        The problem with plr is that it does not transfer the copyright. This is the main thing Amazon does not like about it, besides the repeated content.

        As the seller of the package I still hold those rights, but it is a grey area because the people who bought it do have the right to make derivative works of it changing almost nothing but the author.

        After talking it over with them, I decided not to give it a shot. They did not like it.
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        • Profile picture of the author luna522
          It's sad that so many people ruined the PLR way. But a million people uploading their own copies of "Little Red Riding Hood" just wasn't cool, lol.

          However, this almost makes it a better platform for readers and sellers alike, you can be assured that the information will be of higher quality which is the goal.
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      • Profile picture of the author research
        Originally Posted by PerformanceMan View Post

        They used a search engine, I would imagine.
        I really do not imagine that a search engine is the simple answer to PLR detection.

        There are so many ways to edit and revise a PLR product, and on top of that it can be spun and rewrote many ways.

        I fully understand how Kindle desire fresh, original output and not rehashed junk but I can't believe they depend on search engines or Google, or whatever.
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      • Profile picture of the author tpw
        Originally Posted by research View Post

        Is it possible that the folks over at Kindle have some sort of PLR Detector ???

        Otherwise I really would like to know they can detect what is and what is not Private Label Rights material . . .
        Originally Posted by PerformanceMan View Post

        They used a search engine, I would imagine.

        They only need corporate access to Google's API.

        They can grab a sentence or a dozen sentences from any content submitted to them in the form of a Kindle book, and check that sentence against Google to see whether the information is available elsewhere online for free.

        When I check content for duplication, I grab the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next sentence, put both in quotes and run them through Google.

        It is a very simple and effective method of finding content that is already currently available online for free.

        I have fired many a ghost writer on account of this.
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        Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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    • Profile picture of the author Joan Altz
      Originally Posted by research View Post

      Is it possible that the folks over at Kindle have some sort of PLR Detector ???

      Otherwise I really would like to know they can detect what is and what is not Private Label Rights material . . .

      Please don't tell me that all PLR is rubbish, because it is not.

      And what about all the total rubbish, garbage, junk that floats about under the guise of being original content.
      I'm guessing Amazon does in fact have some kind of PLR detector and it's probably called "Jim, Fred, Nancy, etc.." who knows what PLR has been published and has read enough to spot something that "seems" like PLR. Then they hit you with the accusation and it's your burden of proof to show them they are mistaken if they are.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by research View Post

      Is it possible that the folks over at Kindle have some sort of PLR Detector ???

      Otherwise I really would like to know they can detect what is and what is not Private Label Rights material . . .

      Please don't tell me that all PLR is rubbish, because it is not.

      And what about all the total rubbish, garbage, junk that floats about under the guise of being original content.
      I imagine one of the signs they look for is a sudden surge of submissions of nearly identical books. Much like public domain works, a lot of so-called marketers are following bad advice, like simply changing the title and author, maybe using a new cover.

      Since it's their playground and their ball, they don't have to have court-worthy evidence that something is PLR or PD. All they have to know is that they don't want it selling in their marketplace.

      I won't try to tell you that all PLR is rubbish, simply because I haven't seen all PLR. I can tell you that 95%+ of what I have seen, especially cheap or free PLR, would have to improve some to rise to the level of rubbish.

      As for all the crappy 'original' content floating around? It doesn't matter to Amazon. All that matters is whether or not they want it in their marketplace.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    PLR sucks and it's good that Amazon doesn't allow it. Might sound a little harsh but it's the truth.

    I need to be blunt because I don't want some newbie thinking they can use PLR on Amazon and end up getting their entire Amazon account banned for life.
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by Paul Gram View Post

      PLR sucks and it's good that Amazon doesn't allow it. Might sound a little harsh but it's the truth.

      I need to be blunt because I don't want some newbie thinking they can use PLR on Amazon and end up getting their entire Amazon account banned for life.

      Right on...

      Amazon's customers don't want to buy several titles and find any of them retitled products from another author!!

      This is the bottom line.

      Imagine how annoyed you would be to spend $5 and discover that you are reading a book that you had read previously from another author under a different title!!

      I know that I would be annoyed. And, it did happen to me once before the Internet...

      I bought this guy's book and loved it. Then I purchased a follow-up title, and I got that feeling of "deja vu"... I went digging through my book collection and realized that this dog had published a new book with the exact same information in it, with the exact same chapters, but rearranged the order of the chapters.

      HINT: That was the last time I bought from that particular author. He screwed me for a couple bucks and lost a lifetime customer!!

      Now, if Amazon's customers react to multiple books with different author names and titles as I reacted to that other author, Amazon would be putting a nail in their own coffin if they allowed their profits to supersede consumer satisfaction!!

      The reality is that Amazon is one of the most customer-centric companies on the planet, and in being so hyper-focused on their customers, they will not allow some "Kindle marketer" -- I won't call them authors -- to ruin the buyers experience for their customers.
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      Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
      Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author GuruGazette
    One of the downsides to Amazon's response to the PLR fiasco was the wording of the TOS. Specifically "exclusive publishing rights"

    Legitimate, productive writers license their material widely to maximize income. Magazines, newspapers and other types of publishers often buy non-exclusive electronic and/or archival rights. This means more than one entity has "publishing rights" and technically that content could be in violation of Amazon's terms.

    I removed almost a third of my Kindle titles when that wording went into effect, because I couldn't get a definitive yes or no from support when I asked about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by GuruGazette View Post

      One of the downsides to Amazon's response to the PLR fiasco was the wording of the TOS. Specifically "exclusive publishing rights"

      Legitimate, productive writers license their material widely to maximize income. Magazines, newspapers and other types of publishers often buy non-exclusive electronic and/or archival rights. This means more than one entity has "publishing rights" and technically that content could be in violation of Amazon's terms.

      I removed almost a third of my Kindle titles when that wording went into effect, because I couldn't get a definitive yes or no from support when I asked about it.

      To my knowledge, the only "exclusivity" required is if you are running your title in the KDP Select program.

      You are allowed to sell your books elsewhere, but you are not allowed to publish materials available for free elsewhere.

      So if a particular piece is available in a magazine's archive online, then you would not be allowed to publish that material as a Kindle title.
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      Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
      Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author GuruGazette
    That's how I saw it too and why I removed things. I didn't want the account at risk. I still disagree with the wording though. I feel it should be based on copyright and publications in full, not bits of content and publishing rights. As said earlier in this thread of course, it's their playground
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