You're good enough. You're smart enough. And doggone it, you KNOW how much effort goes into writing a book.
Isn't it time you try what Senator Schumer and Senato Leahy failed to do? Push for stronger DMCA laws? Thanks to the weak laws, EBAY became a monopoly. Thanks to the weak laws, Jeff Bezos of Amazon became the American Mussolini. Thanks to the weak laws, the book, film and TV industries have become subsidiaries to Internet giants. Google lets people search for bootlegs and their YouTube is loaded with them.
But let's talk about YOU. A random check of your latest book shows it's being copied and sold by a variety of EBAY parasites. Among them:
How about THIS character? Another who figures you should share your paycheck with a parasite, just because EBAY allows it:
THIS parasite, like the rest, is robbing a whole bunch of authors:
Thanks to weak DMCA law, eBay can shrug like Sgt. Schultz of "Hogan's Heroes" and smirk, "We know nnnnnuthing. We're just a venue." Use a "REPORT THIS" link, and nothing happens. Their excuse when you call phone support at 1 (866) 540-3229: "We have millions of auctions. Our staff can't get to them all. Try again."
That's if you reach somebody in Pakistan who you can understand, and if you didn't mind having awful music blasting at you during the ten minute wait.
Their answer is for YOU to see these auctions (obviously, you have not) and then take a minute to send the auction number to vero@ebay.com. That's if you're a VERO (Verified Rights Owner) like I am. If not, they pay no attention.
The problem, as you can see, is that you have no idea you're being ripped off.
Your publisher is not protecting you, which is stupid. Your publisher is allowing people to get books at NO profit to you or them. The message? "We're too rich to care." Or, "We can't afford to pay Digimarc or Web Sheriff a few dollars per stoppage."
Either way, the parasites win. The bidders usually have no idea they are getting bootlegs, and think this is some kind of legitimate bargain.
Meanwhile Mom and Pop bookstores keep closing, libraries reduce their hours, and the average author gets a crap advance for putting in long, long hours at what amounts to below minimum wage. At these prices, many are too exhausted from the day job to bother, and others don't have the money to research their projects. The result is too often shoddy books knocked out by hacks.
Celebrity authors such as Al Franken, and best sellers like the Three Little Pigs, J.K. Rowling, E.L. James and George R.R. Martin, get the big advances. PS, they'd busy on Twitter and don't care that they're stabbing their own colleagues in the back. Maybe they don't like competition.
Naturally, I hope you lean on your publisher to DO BETTER. If you need a VeRO rep, free, I'm available. I do it for a lot of celebrities (and I don't name them, it's confidential). You can assign an intern, a relative or a friend to be your VeRO rep and eBay does allow more than one.
MOST important, it's time EBAY, GOOGLE (and their YouTube and Blogspot) and Amazon and the rest stop smirking about how they can do anything they like because the law can't touch them. This includes eBay's habit of allowing their sellers to offer fake nude images of stars you and I know, because "heh heh, we're a venue, we profit from every sale, and no, we are NOT obligated to ask a seller if he has permission or a model release of consent. Ha ha."
GOOGLE has gotten hit by various European governments with lawsuits. Isn't it time American politicians at least get together and work out a way to tame these Internet monsters? SOFA didn't make it, but there must be some way of getting a common sense bill passed that will force an outfit such as eBay to obey American law, and to take some responsibility for what's on their site.
You're good enough. You're smart enough. And oh, the things you know. How to get fairness for I copyright and intellectual rights owners...you know how to do that?
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