avatarLeonard Tillerman

Summary

The author expresses frustration about literary piracy and offers suggestions to protect written work.

Abstract

The author, Leonard Tillerman, discusses the issue of literary piracy, expressing anger over the theft of his own work on various platforms. He explains that literary piracy involves the outright copying of articles or books and placing them on other websites, often with someone else's name as the author. Tillerman notes that while Medium seems to have protection against this, he has experienced widespread piracy on other platforms. He argues that this is a serious issue for writers, as they expect to be paid for their work and do not want it passed off as someone else's without consent. The author also debunks common arguments in favor of piracy, such as the idea that real readers do not access books and articles on pirated sites or that books and articles have always been free. Tillerman offers several strategies to protect written work, including creating Google Alerts, hiring an anti-piracy firm, formatting work for easy purchasing, using apps to detect plagiarism, registering for copyright protection, making work available in various countries, and confusing pirates by adding META tags to websites.

Opinions

  • The author is outraged by literary piracy and believes it is a serious issue for writers.
  • Tillerman argues that the idea that real readers do not access books and articles on pirated sites is false, as pirated sites received 300 billion visitors in 2019.
  • The author debunks the argument that books and articles have always been free, noting that this harms the entire writing community.
  • Tillerman suggests several strategies to protect written work, including creating Google Alerts, hiring an anti-piracy firm, formatting work for easy purchasing, using apps to detect plagiarism, registering for copyright protection, making work available in various countries, and confusing pirates by adding META tags to websites.
  • The author believes that while literary piracy may never be completely eliminated, the industry should be treated with the same respect and protection as any other.

Stop Stealing My Work!

Literacy piracy is a very real thing

Photo by Vladyslav Lytvyshchenko on Unsplash

Yes… I realize the headline is a touch on the dramatic and provocative side. However, this is a subject that tends to get a very strong reaction from me. I am otherwise usually a pretty calm and forgiving fellow. But not when it comes to literary piracy!

First things first. I am not talking about Medium here. In fact, what I have noticed in regards to this platform, is that piracy seldom happens. Sure, a lot of us write about similar topics to one another, but we put our own unique spin on them. That is not piracy. That is the business of writing.

Of course… giving credit to other writers for inspiring an idea is always the proper and kind thing to do.

No- what I am referring to is the outright word-for-word copying of articles or books and putting them on other websites. That is literary piracy and it makes me livid!

I have written on other platforms for quite a while, and 90% of my articles have been stolen and put on other websites. Not just the idea… the whole thing… word for word! Even worse, someone else’s name goes down as the author.

How infuriating is that?

I have not yet experienced this on Medium. I am not sure if the paywall is responsible for that protection, but I am assuming it is.

Is it just me? Am I wrong to be so outraged by this?

In truth, the reaction in our community tends to be lukewarm and somewhat forgiving.

I have read several articles on various platforms which state this idea of piracy is not a big deal. The argument is that true customers and readers will access our stories or books on reputable sites. In other words, they will avoid the shady, pirate websites that are full of stolen material.

It is also argued that books and articles have always been free.

“Have you ever heard of the library?” I am asked.

Further, friends and families tend to share books and articles with one another. They always have.

The last bit of “pro-pirate” reasoning, which really gets under my skin, has to do with equity. A defender of literary piracy unabashedly claimed that this evens the playing field. Now even those who cannot afford it can have access to any written material.

This is all very bad news for writers. How about we come over and shine your shoes for free as well?

Let’s be serious here. We are writers. It is what we do, and a huge part of who we are. For the vast majority of us, we have an ongoing love affair with writing. We have an intense passion for the written word. However, as with all artists, we do expect to get paid. Also, to have our work passed off as that of another without consent is downright disgusting and reprehensible.

Contrary to those who feel this is a non-issue, the risks associated with literary piracy are huge. Below are some very common pitfalls that make it even more difficult for writers to earn a decent income due to piracy.

Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

Loss of Income

Don’t be so fast to buy the argument that real readers don’t access books and articles on pirated sites. They do! In 2019, pirated sites received 300 billion visitors. Also, according to the Intellectual Property Office’s latest study of online copyright infringement, 17% of ebooks read online are pirated. That equals a very meaningful loss of income for writers. To make the point even further, take a look at a quote from a reader which appears in The Guardian:

“I can download 100,000 books and articles in a few hours. I doubt I’ll even get through a fifth of them.”

There is something to be proud of!

Reputation and Control

I don’t know about you, but I am not too comfortable with the idea of my work being placed on a shady pirate website. Those are the words that I created, and they will be floating around in file-sharing sites full of viruses and malware.

Any control I had over my work is now gone forever.

Damage to the Industry as a Whole

I have noticed something lately. Many traditional bookstores have gone under. Bankrupt and gone. These were cultural icons in our neighborhoods that simply disappeared.

Many choose to blame COVID or Amazon, but the reality is many people have found their reading material elsewhere… for free! Like it or not, this harms the entire writing community.

My belief is that literary piracy is a much bigger problem than people are willing to admit.

Considering this, is there anything that we can do as writers to prevent this ongoing abuse of our work?

While nothing is perfect, there are some strategies that can be deployed that may potentially protect your valuable work.

Create Google Alerts

Alerts can be created on Google with a passage from your article or book. This will, in turn, alert you if your written work shows up anywhere on the Internet. If so, a DMCA order can then proceed for a takedown. (I have first-hand experience in doing this, and it works).

Hire an Anti-Piracy Firm

In this case, you would have someone else do the tracking and takedowns for you. There are companies such as MUSO who will find any of your pirated work online and will send takedown legal notices to offenders on your behalf.

Format

Always make the purchasing of your articles or books legitimate and easy for readers. For instance, one way to do that is to make sure your work is offered in a variety of formats. Then there will be no need to seek it out on pirated sites in a format the reader prefers.

Apps

The world is now full of apps. It is a good idea to get a plagiarism checker. Many new sophisticated apps can locate plagiarized material quite easily. A lot of them are even free! I tend to use Grammarly a lot, but there are others I utilize as well.

Register for Copyright Protection

Yes, it is true that when you create your own work, it is immediately copyrighted. However, by registering it, you will now have an extra layer of protection. In this case, more is better!

Think Global

It is a very good idea to make your work available in a variety of countries. Remember, you are trying to make it as easy as possible for readers to find your work. If they cannot find your work in their country, they will be very tempted to obtain pirated versions.

Confusion

Make life difficult for the pirates. To do this, you need to confuse those looking for pirated copies of your work. By creating and adding META tags to your website or pages, you can do just that. For instance, include the same tags that people would look for to find free, illegal content. Those looking for pirated work will end up straight on your legitimate site.

Final Thoughts

Can we ever completely eliminate literary piracy? Alas, I strongly suspect not. Piracy has been around forever! However, our industry should be treated no differently than any other. We are word artists, and our work deserves to be protected and respected with all due diligence. We need to come together as a community to ensure that this happens.

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