(Legally without waiting for the authorities to step in; doesn’t cost you a dime; don’t need an attorney or a large publisher. You can take care of this YOURSELF.)
I have a beef with general-ebooks.com. In November 2014, I found my books on their website without my permission. I submitted all the correct DMCA forms and information to get my books removed. It took about a week for them to remove my books. (I have email evidence and screenshots.)
Then on Jan 8th, I discovered my books were again on their site. That’s the SECOND time they INFRINGED on my rights. I contacted the authorities. I’m still waiting for a response.
According to GOOGLE, there have been 8415 DMCA complaints filed against general-ebooks.com.
https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/general-ebooks.com/
And what has been done about it? NOTHING.
I decided to stop this infringement myself. I did some research on DMCA and found out the way to stop pirate sites like general-ebooks.com. This is what I did:
- PING website general-ebooks.com
(In windows, go to START, then type in ‘cmd’. That will pull up the command prompt.
Type in ‘ping’ and the website address
You would type in ‘ping general-ebooks.com’ and hit enter
It will give you the IP address of 74.117.180.110
- Find out who is hosting the servers for the website: (the domain provider will tell you they don’t have access to the servers, so they can’t do anything.)
Go to : http://www.whoishostingthis.com/
And type in the address of the website infringing on your rights: www.general-ebooks.com. It will tell you the host name:
WZ Communications is hosting general-ebooks.com
(double check that the IP address match)
- Use the IP address to find out who is hosting the Servers:
Go to this website http://myip.ms/browse/ip_owners/World_IP_Address_Owners_200000.html
and enter the IP address. It will give you the company name: Webzilla, Inc.
- Find the server contact info and submit a DMCA claim:
Go to http://copyright.gov/onlinesp/list/a_agents.html
and search for WZ Communications or Webzilla. They are the same company.
(The website above is a government website. Under DMCA, websites need to register with the government to limit their liabilities when it comes to copyright violations. Websites are listed alphabetically. A quick way to find the specific company is to use the search function of your browser.
Once you find the company, click on it and a PDF file will open. EMAIL the company and let them know which website is infringing on your rights. You will have to provide documentation similar to when you file a GOOGLE DMCA claim. THIS is more effective than submitting a GOOGLE DMCA claim. I would do both, so there is a transparent record with GOOGLE.
I hope you will take the time to 1. Submit a claim to whatever site is infringing on your rights. 2. Share this post with authors you know
I could have charged for this information. I did not, because you should not have to pay to protect what’s YOURS.
Diana
Reblogged this on Candace Vianna Writes and commented:
Stumble across this post the today by Dianapersaudi and thought some of you out there might find it interesting. My book has been pirated so many times and on so many sites that filing complaints would become a full time job. This is for those who might want to enforce their legal rights.
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Lovely article. Although, my book is pirated on so many sites filing complaints would be a full time job. I have reblogged it to my readers, crediting it back to you, and I will feature it during this Monday’s #MondayBlogs campaign. Thanks so much. Candace
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Thanks! I agree that there are a LOT of people out there pirating. Hopefully if enough people take the right steps and report these sites directly to the host, the host will ban them (or risk being sued.) I’m sure any court will agree that if the host has been notified several times, they can’t claim “we didn’t know.”
Diana
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