Thank you for the quick and positive reply. I’m very happy with your response and I’ll share it with the other authors I know who are concerned about piracy.

I think what most concerns me is that people may be tempted to include copyright protected works here on BookRiff and then sell them, which would be outright theft. Sadly, many people just don’t get it.

If you ever write a post or article on piracy and want an author’s input, feel free to contact me. I am all for making my readers’ experiences with purchasing and reading my content as pleasurable as possible, without sacrificing my copyright rights.

By the way, I took a particular interest in your site and company ebcause 1) I’m Canadian, and 2) I’m originally from Vancouver.

I really do wish you the very best. If you ever want to brainstorm ideas with authors, let me know.

Cheers!

Cheryl Kaye Tardif

First, congratulations on your new endeavor! I wish you the very best in success.

I am an author concerned with book (especially ebook) piracy. I belong to a couple of anti-piracy groups and we’ve seen other sites similar to yours fall into the category of becoming an illegal file-sharing site. This is a big concern to many authors.

I applaud you for mentioning the copyright issue in your Terms of Service and Copyright Policy pages, but I believe you’re going to need more than that, as has been evidenced by other sites.

When I first read about your site, I never read anything about NOT publishing someone else’s work. I am worried about the people who do not understand copyright laws–and those who just don’t care.

I recommend you include a notice on all upload pages, perhaps even have the member click and “swear” that they OWN the copyright. Members need to be reminded of this constantly, especially young members who don’t understand copyright laws. Many people think that if they bought the book through legal channels, they own the right to distribute it and make copies.

One of my goals is to try to educate people about copyright laws and to discourage piracy. This is the goal of the groups I belong to as well.

My other suggestion is that you blog about this issue. Make sure your members understand they can submit their OWN writing, not someone else’s. Help them understand why it is illegal to use another author’s material without that author’s permission. In fact, this should be clearly stated on every page a member sees during the upload process.

Other authors against piracy and I will be monitoring websites like yours over the next few months. We’ll be issuing take-down notices where applicable and be calling for members’ accounts to be suspended. This is something else you could do to help prevent piracy; clearly state that suspension from the site and deletion of a member’s works is the result if they’re found to be in violation of copyright laws.

By you taking positive actions against piracy, you not only show your support against book piracy and support for the value of authors’ works, you will help us educate people and make their reading experience a pleasure and not one wrapped up in legalities or lawsuits.

All the best,

Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author

‘Support Authors, Buy a Book!’