It has just been brought to my attention (thanks, @deehellcat!) that someone by the pen name of J.D Geraghty and Plush Books has copied one of my fics and published it as an original book on Amazon. I was told it was We'll Always Have New Orleans, but I couldn't actually find that one on their list. I did find The Wolf, though. They didn't change anything, even the summary is the same (even the font on the "cover").
This person has HUNDREDS of books on Amazon. On the supernatural/vampires/werewolves section alone I saw other KC stories, even one I recognized by @willowaus (being sold on print form as well). So I highly suggest that anybody with published fics out there, be it on tumblr, wattpad, AO3, anything, check this person's profile on Amazon. A quick twitter search showed me they've been identified as stealing stuff from other fandoms as well. There are definitely some Teen Wolf and other Vampire Diaries stuff there. Some of it seems to be rather recent (The Wolf was published on Amazon this November). They've also published some of this stuff on Barnes and Noble.
I am trying to figure out how to file a plagiarism complaint on Amazon. The form is not really that intuitive, so I'm not sure how to do it exactly. If anybody has dealt with this before and has any idea on how to address it, I'm all ears. I would really love some tips on how to procede here, because I have no clue and am kind of in shock right now.
Also, would really appreciate a reblog here so that other authors out there might become aware of their stories being stolen.
So, whoever is behind Plush Books is an asshole, obviously, and I hope they step on lego every day for the rest of their shitty life.
But let’s talk for a second about Amazon, and how it’s possible to upload hundreds of fanfics to KDP, without even changing the character names and very obviously trademarked intellectual property, and it doesn’t get pinged at all?
A while back, when I tried to republish Anhaga (a book I wrote, and the rights to which had reverted back to me) Amazon told me there was a “copyright issue” despite the fact that I had a rights reversion letter from my former publisher, and everything was completely legal and above board.
Why the fuck did I spend a frantic week going back and forth with what felt like six million Amazon customer service reps, jumping through a bunch of hoops to prove that Anhaga was mine, I had written, and I owned the rights to it? Meanwhile they’re over here selling books that were uploaded in their hundreds over a suspiciously short period of time, without even changing the character names in an attempt to at least try to pretend they’re not stolen?
So yeah. Fuck Plush Books, but also fuck Amazon too.
Meanwhile, if you think Plush Books has stolen you fic, check them out here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BMB1RG5J/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=faaebd0a-c8cf-438d-9b29-4c623ca8cdbd&store_ref=ap_rdr&ref_=ap_rdr
And here is how to file a DMCA notice: https://twitter.com/kokomroily/status/1603843555692351488?s=12
And here is a link to the spreadsheet listing all the stolen fics that have so far been identified: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Fdmd9XxpU0PqWLvuoJwCn7dM90Cy4N8393AsEf7V6_w/edit#gid=0
Full credit to KokomRoily on Twitter for bringing this to people’s attention. (And I’m sure there are lots of other people working on it too. I don’t know who they are, but kudos to them as well.)
friendly little PSA to my fellow fic writers who also post their work on AO3:
my teen wolf rewrite, It’s Always Been You, was stolen word for word and uploaded as a kindle book to be bought on Amazon *insert all the angry expletives*
The “author”, Plush Books, has 549 books in their amazon storefront page that are more than likely all stolen based on the info I received last night that led me over to a twitter thread that shed light on what’s happening.
Anyways more info to see if your book was also stolen from this “bEsTseLLiNg AuThOr” and what to do to hopefully get it removed below the cut
Here’s the amazon storefront for the literal piece of shit who stole books, I hope no one else has their work on here and if you do I’m so sorry you’re feeling the way I am.
Here’s the twitter page that was very helpful in bringing insight to what happened and the fact that this has happened before with another “author” on amazon a year ago who has since been shut down.
Here’s the twitter thread that details what to do and say in your email to get your book taken down from Amazon. You cannot send attachments in the email to Amazon, as they state they will not open them under any circumstance, so keep that in mind and just be very detailed in your email about the proof you have ready to send them (google doc timestamps, screenshots of comments/kudos and those timestamps and so forth)
Here’s the Amazon faq answer to what happens after you submit a DMCA request
Here’s the Barnes and Noble "author” page as well, mine wasn’t here as of this posting but I’ll be checking back daily since the amount of books on this list is significantly less to what's on amazon. Here’s what you have to do to submit a claim to B&N.
I was able to click on the book’s image in my stolen work’s listing and the first 7 chapters, and a little bit of chapter 8, were visible to read without having to actually buy the book to get more proof it’s plagiarized.
I took a bunch of screenshots, along with a screenshot of the description which was copied straight from my ao3 description, to be prepared in case amazon emails me back saying they need the proof I mentioned having when I emailed my DMCA request in, so I’d suggest doing the same.
Based on a comment in the twitter thread from when this last happened apparently Amazon doesn’t really care about this and is very slow in actually doing anything to take listings down.
I’m hoping that’s changed since the last person who did this had all their listings removed but in any case, in addition to emailing amazon with my DMCA request I also left a review on my actual book’s listing-- that will hopefully be posted soon-- stating how it was stolen work.
I’m just so mad and I had to do something so even if the book listing never gets taken down at least that review will be there and I’ll keep sending emails and leaving reviews until it is taken down because fuck this person and anyone else like them who thinks this is ok.
Please don’t hesitate to reblog this to get the word out! There’s a lot of fandoms affected, just a few I saw were: Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Marvel, and Star Wars
if anyone wants a laugh here’s the link to IABY and the amazon book where they named it ‘It’s Always Been You: A Sisters Love’ which is just so wrong to what IABY is and created the actual WORST book cover image🙃
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EDIT to add that as of 19 December 2022 my stolen book has been removed from amazon along with 300 others! The barnes and noble page also no longer has any books listed from plush books which is amazing news! Keep spreading the word to get the real authors notified so the rest of the stolen works can be removed as well!
File this in the "win" category: When I made my original post about the Plush Books fanfiction piracy situation (which is now well into five figures of notes, you guys rock at spreading the word!), they had over 550 books available in their Amazon catalogue. I just checked, and nearly 300 titles have been removed thanks to authors filing DMCA notices!
My fic has been stolen and turned into a book, and is being sold on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Book Depository. I’ve reported it with all three companies so I hope to see it taken down swiftly.
I’m not the only author experiencing this (approx 500 authors have had their works stolen by Plush Books). I think it’s terrible that this company is stealing and selling for a profit works that the fic authors have poured their heart, soul and time into for free.
Fortunately Twitter user KokomRoily has been actively tracking and helping authors report their stolen work. With the help of so many wonderful people, they are finding the stolen works and reaching out to the authors.
I wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for the two Ao3 users who told me what was happening. I’m so grateful that fan fiction authors across all fandoms are supporting each other in this way! I hope all affected authors get their stolen works taken down and Plush Books will be stopped soon.
Thank you so much, KokomRoily, SummersonMars and Saezs!
I was informed that a person/company that goes by the name Plush Books stole one of my Point Break fics and is selling it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble 😣
They literally just copy and pasted the fic in it's entirety.
Apparently they're doing this with bunch of other people's fics as well. The person who let me know said that they and a few others are in the process of contacting other authors who's writing have been stolen and have make a complaint to Amazon about this issue. Hopefully Amazon is able to do something however knowing what I know about the internet and plagiarism, I'm not optimistic it'll be in our favour. I can only hope that no one buys the book or any of the stolen works on there. I can't even leave a review on it because I'm not an active Amazon user.
