Is your artistic work being pirated?

Sometimes it isn't a mystery.  Piracy of artist's work is big business, and those responsible rake in the money without giving any thought to the actual owner of the work, or sharing in the profits.  I received the above this morning from a friend in an email linking me to the site.  Although eBoor.com also has a link for the DCMA law enacted, and state that they take it seriously, and that all you have to do is file a complaint following their instructions and that your material will be immediately taken down--their complaint process contains one major flaw.  IN ORDER TO COMPLAIN YOU HAVE TO JOIN THEIR SITE!

Joining a site that has stolen my work in order to complain about that theft did not leave me all warm and fuzzy inside.  Thoughts of identify theft immediately came to mind.  I'm not sure what all information is required to "join" their site, but was truly uncomfortable in giving out information such as my name, email address, website information, or even being on line with these people.  Computer hackers are good.  Could it be that the few minutes it takes me to fill out their registration form allows them access to much more than just the information I'm giving?  Of course, it's possible.  And any business person selling material and familiar with the DCMA knows that in order to sell copyright material they need the owner's permission.

For some of us with books, the damage can go even further.  It's clear that not only have they pirated my work--they pirated the description from my Amazon site.  It is the only place they could have gotten that description word-for-word.  Sacred Secrets is a "Select" book, meaning that I'm under contract with Amazon for 90 days that the book will not be offered for sale, or for free anywhere in digital form during the term of my contract.  This piracy has placed me in the position of possibly being in violation of my contract with Amazon, which could result in the loss of royalties from my sales. 

And perhaps it could go even further.  Without joining the site and paying to download your work, you really have no clue whether the work being offered is a quality work. What if someone retyped it and it's full of typos or formatting errors?  What if someone who would have loved your work and purchased future books reads this and thinks "well, it could have been a good book, but the author is a horrible writer so I'm never going to buy anything else by them."

What can you do if you find your work is being pirated?  Fill out a complaint with the Internet Crime Unit of the FBI if you're an American Citizen.  Contact your personal attorney.  File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and last--not least, if you're under contract with Amazon, a publisher or any other entity--notify them immediately.  And when you complain, push for prosecution.  Not just for yourself, but for all artists.  We can end the threat of piracy, but not until we make the punishment more damaging than the benefits.  If piracy sites are making hundreds of thousands of dollars off artists' work, and I only get my work removed without any other penalty, then the rewards of their piracy outweighs the punishment.  Don't just complain--and never join a site that clearly has no problem with using unauthorized information--let your voice be heard loud and clear--DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!