Signal Boost: Site scraping fics from AO3 to sell them

[sharpiefan]

Pretty much copied from isis' post here. Posted here because this is a community of fanfic writers who may be affected and may not know about this.

A site called http://www.ebooks-tree.com is scraping fic from AO3 and (apparently?) selling it.

Some information on how to file a DMCA take-down notice. You can also complain to ebooks-tree's webhost, CloudFlare, whose complaints/DMCA page is available here. (Note: You do not need to list your legal name, although Cloudflare do ask for a street address, so some people may not be comfortable with this.)

The AO3 are aware and OTW are discussing what to do.

The best way to discover if your stuff is there is to use their search-box for your pseuds; there is no logical format or layout to how they have arranged works. I have discovered two of my works copied.

I am absolutely furious that works I have put up in good faith as non-profit-making fanworks should be stolen and exploited by other people, and have already followed the guidelines to issue DMCA take-down notices.

Comments

[silailo]

I must be doing something wrong. I sent a complaint to CloudFlare and they said this:

We are unable to process your report for the following reason(s):
The domain or subdomain reported does not resolve to a CloudFlare IP address. The domain/subdomain might be using name servers provided by CloudFlare, but that does not indicate where it resolves to. Since the domain or subdomain is not pointing at a CloudFlare IP you will be able to look up where it resolves to and then contact the responsible hosting provider.

I linked to all the stories of mine on Ebooks Tree as well as the page itself (though it says "donotlink" in the address, but maybe that has something to do with it). I'm not sure what to do now with CloudFlare. I will go to Ebooks Tree next.

[samuraiter]

I got that notice, too, but I'm a little hesitant to use the eBooks Tree complaint page because it sets off all manner of red flags in my browser and its related security programs.

[sharpiefan]

Using the eBooks Tree complaints page probably doesn't go anywhere anyway; they say they're fully DMCA compliant, which is a complete planetload of bullshit or why would they steal so many random works by people who are ((let's face it) unknown outside of fandom - all the stuff I know of apart from the profic that's been stolen was put up under various fannish pseuds. And people who know who these people are and what they write will know where they can find those works without paying for the privilege of reading them.

[sharpiefan]

They're scammers; they've hidden their actual ISP pretty well. It's a tangled mess, but as they've stolen actual published works by authors including Neil Gaiman and JK Rowling, I don't think it'll be too long at all before the authorities get involved and pull it.

I hope. Pass the popcorn?

[the_rck]

There's more about who really hosts them here: http://www.isfanficlegal.com/post/116383921254/ebookstree-4-14-15/mobile