Attention AO3 Users

[rusty_armour]

I just learned through killerweasel that http://www.ebooks-tree.com has been stealing people's work from AO3 and making it available on their website without getting permission. I did a search under my fic pseud and found two of my stories. I just sent an email to Ebooks Tree asking them to remove the fic. From what I can tell, this service is free, but I deeply resent having my work taken without my permission all the same. It's a shitty thing to do.

Comments

[crimsoncorundum]

Grr. I found two of mine too. They really should ask first or at least post a link to AO3. Since they don't make any money, it could be considered free advertising, but I hate the idea of having my stories floating around anywhere without my consent. Have you received a reply from the site yet?

Thanks for the warning.

[rusty_armour]

Grr. I found two of mine too.

I'm really sorry to hear that. I have a terrible feeling that everyone on AO3 has been targeted by these bastards.

They really should ask first or at least post a link to AO3. Since they don't make any money, it could be considered free advertising, but I hate the idea of having my stories floating around anywhere without my consent.

Unfortunately, I just learned from avictoriangirl that Ebooks Tree does make money. Apparently, you only get a sample of a work for free and have to pay money if you want to read the whole thing. Here's the thread with our discussion. Even if the service was free, it's theft. As you said, you shouldn't have stories floating around anywhere without your consent.

Have you received a reply from the site yet?

No, I haven't. However, I'm guessing that Ebooks Tree has now received several messages from irate members of AO3, so they probably have their hands full. *g* If you haven't done so already, I would strongly recommend that you email Ebooks Tree and ask them to remove your stories. I'm hoping the more people that contact them, the more likely they are to stop this practice and take down the works they've stolen. You can find an email form here.

Thanks for the warning.

No problem. I'm hoping that as many AO3 members as possible learn about this situation and take action. :-)

[crimsoncorundum]

Thanks. :) I have now contacted the site as well.

Last year, two of our ebooks were stolen too. We discovered that someone had somehow copied them and uploaded them on an Indonesian website (I think). There was no way we could contact that site, but we did contact the service where we had offered our ebooks internationally, but to no avail. They didn't even reply. I think it was Kobo books, but I'm not sure anyomre, it's been a while. Of course, unless Swedish is a far more popular language than I've noticed so far, the Indonesians won't have much use for our stories... ;)

[rusty_armour]

Thanks for contacting the site, crimsoncorundum. I'm hoping the more voices, the better. :-)

I'm so sorry that you and thegreenring had two of your ebooks stolen. That's terrible. I'm amazed that the service you used didn't reply to your message. I hope the language barrier has stopped people from downloading your stories off the Indonesian website.

[crimsoncorundum]

Thanks. :)

[rusty_armour]

I was directed to an excellent Tumblr resource (http://www.isfanficlegal.com/) and discovered that some AO3 stories have now been removed from Ebooks Tree. I'm happy to say that mine have been deleted. You might want to do a quick search for your stories in case they were deleted too. :-)

I'm hoping to write a more detailed post on the subject later.

[crimsoncorundum]

Thanks again. :) My stories are now gone. At least they listened to our complaints.