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I would rather see my books get pirated than this

janefriedman.com

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Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#51

Post by renewiltord »

The books do not appear to be by the same author and it appears Amazon is correctly handling this:

- Book by her https://www.amazon.com/Business-Chicago-Writing-Editing-Publ... links to her Author profile https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Friedman/e/B004KHXQ0U/ref=dp_byl...

- Book by other person with same name https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CD8YW4PQ links to no Author profile and instead to a search for that name

Two people are allowed to have the same name and unless one of them trademarks it, I would expect Amazon to do something like this. After all, J K Rowling isn't her name either, and it could just as well be a name I picked. What makes it hers exclusively to use for this purpose is that she trademarked it. Otherwise, I could also have the pen name J K Rowling.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#52

Post by thaumasiotes »

bawolff wrote: post #16
macspoofing wrote: post #4

>I did file a report with Amazon, complaining that these books were using my name and reputation without my consent. Amazon’s response: “Please provide us with any trademark registration numbers that relate to your claim.” When I replied that I did not have a trademark for my name, they closed the case and said the books would not be removed from sale. I see you had a typical customer service experience with Amazon.…

Assuming they dont just have the same name but are intentionally impersonating you - sounds like fraud, false advertising or identity theft [ianal]

The example book just has the same name. It should be defensible; you can write under any name you want.

Amazon itself is the entity attributing the book to the more famous Jane Friedman. This is a case where the "impersonator" appears to be legally fine and Amazon is on questionable ground.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#53

Post by TheCleric »

ghaff wrote: post #45
jprete wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think at that point it’s fraud.

At which point, I'd expect it to be a matter for the author to take it to court as opposed to expecting a bookstore to adjudicate it for them. Which is (sadly) going to be expensive for an individual unless a publisher is going to undertake the effort for them.

I don't think she's asking Amazon to remove the books (though they should), but rather they're on her author page. There should be a way for an author that you've created a page for to be able to say "those books aren't mine, please remove them."

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#55

Post by wpietri »

nomat wrote: post #44

I think this is the future of computers for people. they will open their phone and say "hey siri get this book or computer or car" and the browser will show them a bunch of made up products generated by an AI and they'll get the product drop shipped from china and it'll be a shitty counterfeit just like the $5 256GB USB drives. But they won't know because when you look for reviews, the review websites will also be ge…

Yeah, my big concern about LLMs is not Skynet or a zillion people out of work. It's that the spammers and their ilk are now vastly more capable. The fact that generative LLMs are glib bullshit machines is a problem for most sane uses, but a plus for people who don't give two shits about the truth as long as they've got a chance of making some money.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#56

Post by WalterBright »

tornato7 wrote: post #29

Just some of the problems authors already faced online (I'm related to one): - Google indexing and republishing all of their work for free on Google Books (finally resolved after a huge Class Action suit where the authors were awarded a few $$) - List your book on Amazon for $20 and a "third party" reseller will immediately hijack your listing with a poorly printed knockoff copy for $19 - Widespread piracy of Kindle…

> finally resolved after a huge Class Action suit where the authors were awarded a few $$

One wonders if that few $$ was worth the bother for the authors. Especially when set against the free marketing that such exposure would get for them.

There are other reasons for writing books than making money selling them, such as enhancing your professional reputation, which can segue into a better paying job, more contract opportunities, ability to sell seminars, etc.

I have no idea how much Carrie Fisher made selling her books, but she did make a lot of money from a touring stage show based on the books, and also had a lucrative career as a "script doctor" in Hollywood that rescued boring and trite scripts.

And, of course, having book signings!

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#57

Post by owlninja »

kneebonian wrote: post #41
optimalsolver wrote: post #3

Pre-LLM content is going to become the most valuable substance known to man. Don't blame Reddit and the like for circling wagons around it.

If you think reddit is genuine human content I have same bad news for you buddy.

I believe the majority of it is, what do you have that says otherwise?

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#58

Post by wackget »

pyrophane wrote: post #48

We are already in the world of AI-assisted fraud, and we are starting to see it all around us. Companies like Amazon are going to have to figure out how they want to approach this sort of thing, because it will hurt the trust people have in them. I worry that they see selling creative content as little different than selling a USB-powered table fan.

Funny you should mention USB products, because there's tons of bogus products with "USB certification" and/or half-assed USB interfaces which barely match any of the USB specs.

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#59

Post by a_bonobo »

Legend2440 wrote: post #2

Sounds like an Amazon problem, not an AI problem. Amazon doesn't seem to curate their marketplace at all. It's full of fake products and no-name chinese vendors selling low-quality goods.

I'm honestly amazed people still buy at Amazon. It's similar to AliExpress in terms of reliability, but with the added bonus of the listing lying to your face!

Re: I would rather see my books get pirated than this

#60

Post by pessimizer »

fragmede wrote: post #50
OJFord wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK & US at least that's not true, there are de facto (unregistered) and (offering more protection) registered trademarks. In the UK at least if you could show your name gave it some weight, and that you'd suffered some financial harm as a result of its use, then you'd have a case without it being registered.

In the UK, Scotland, specifically, McDonalds has lost at least two lawsuits against a Scottish family for trademark violations.

But if the Scottish family weren't named McDonald, McDonald's would be far more likely to win the case. In fact, an exception being made for a Scottish family's real name implies rights outside of strict trademark over the use of one's own name.
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