We’ve been getting pings and @’s all morning about ebooks-tree.com who seem to be scraping/taking stories off of AO3 and hosting them as PDFs and mobi downloads on their site; the site seems to be pulling from UrBookLibrary as well. They’re not reading your “do not copy/duplicate” notes on your AO3 fic; their bots are pulling things directly from AO3, without AO3′s authorization or assent. It looks like they are pulling from Wattpad too, again without authorization or assent.
While the Ebooks-Tree DMCA page seems to imply that you need a lawyer or other “authorized person” to submit a takedown notice, you don’t; you can do it yourself.
As we’ve posted before, fanfic writers hold copyright in their stories, although not in lines/quotes from the works they’ve been inspired by, and because of that, fanfic writers can submit DMCA takedown notices, or have someone do it on their behalf. While this post isn’t legal advice (none of our posts on FYC are), you might want to consider using this template (well, the bolded bits) in telling ebooks-tree to take down your content:
Your Name and/or Pseudonym as an e-signature (or the name of the person you’ve authorized to submit this request, with a slash before it and after it): Link(s) to the unauthorized works (link to the pdf, the mobi and the page hosting all of it): Link(s) to an authorized version of your work (whether on AO3, tumblr, LJ or somewhere else): An email address of the submitter (include it again even if it’s in the header): This statement: I have good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. This statement: The information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
ETA: If you try to read your own fics, they require you to sign up via a site called http://www.lazygame.net/ (lazygamenet on Twitter, corporate name is KH Media LLC of Delaware, their phone number is listed as the contact number for a bunch of different companies) and give your credit card info; we think that’s probably a very bad idea. You can send the same DMCA info to them at support@lazygame.net but it’s unclear whether they have the ability to remove anything from the ebooks-tree site. We called LazyGame directly and they said they are not affiliated with ebooks-tree but they are affiliated with TzarMedia, which seems to be some sort of back-end for ebooks-tree. Fwiw, TzarMedia isn’t doing well on the whole “trustworthy site” thing.
TzarMedia claims that “All TzarMedia content is licensed and legal for distribution and use.” We wonder what the FTC would say about that kind of false advertising.
This is way bigger than someone using a bot to pull fics; this is infringement in so many different ways.
(Fwiw, even though ebooks-tree claims that they comply with the Copyright Act, they aren’t compliant with the DMCA Safe Harbor rules, as they aren’t listed on the copyright.gov list of agents.)
You can also submit a complaint about ebooks-tree to CloudFlare, who hosts the site. Their DMCA page is at https://www.cloudflare.com/abuse/form – as a matter of law you do not need to include the legal name of the copyright claimant/the fanfic writer, but you should include the pseudonym that the fic was posted under if you don’t want to include a legal name or address.
A lot of people have been writing into Support about this as well, and as much as we’d like to prevent this kind of thing, there’s only so much we can do while also keeping the downloads functionality alive for our users (who might depend on it due to limited internet time or mobile access only).
We’re already discouraging bots from accessing downloads in our robots.txt rules, which this kind of bot will happily ignore. We are also limiting how many files can be downloaded (and how fast) and we can tweak these settings further, although this isn’t a bulletproof solution either. The only way we could prevent bots from downloading files would be to add a CAPTCHA button to downloads, and for a lot of accessibility reasons, we are not planning on doing this.
To keep your fanfic locked away from anyone or anything that isn’t a logged-in AO3 user, edit your work and tick the “Only show your work to registered users” option, in the Privacy box. (However, very dedicated PDF thieves could theoretically circumvent this by creating an account for their bots.)
As you can see, there is no simple technical answer to this problem, but we will continue to look into solutions from our end!
Remember the Goodreads fanfic debaucle? Well, another site is now doing it, only they’re worse. I just found 13 of my stories listed over on ebooks-tree.com, a for-profit site where I neither uploaded them nor authorized anyone else to do so.
I have a very clear statement that says I do not want my works or translations published on any platform other than AO3, for various reasons, yet this seems to have been completely ignored.
Unlike Goodreads where just one person uploaded thousands of fics and
Goodreads didn’t set out to steal them, this site does and has
purposefully sent out bots to harvest them from AO3.
They make revenue off your work via ads and if you want to see any reviews which have been left on it, or even check the text to confirm it’s yours, they want you to create an account with TzarMedia for access (and requires a credit card for sign up).
“Access Required.You need to create an account to gain permission to access unlimited downloads & streaming.“
“Take advantage of our special promotional offer to gain unlimited access for 5 days for free.”
Which, gee, that last line sounds like they’re charging for access to your works, too.
If you write fanfic, please check the site for your own works, Google for your name and the ebooks-tree site and/or check for your AO3 username directly in the site’s search bar.
I just wrote them a letter requesting that they be removed. I guess we’ll see what happens.
This is not a comprehensive list – please check the site for your works.
Please reblog/signal boost this so as many authors as possible know about it.
If you find your works on their site, please leave a comment so we can get a better idea of everyone whose work has been compromised and some sort of rudimentary count.
Also, even though mine is a long list, it is nowhere near all-encompassing. If you have time and energy to do so, please check for other authors that you’ve read or actively follow (if they’re not already listed above) and let them (and us) know if their works show up there.
Note: Valeria2067 pointed out the to the DMCA link that explains how to get these removed. They make it look quite a bit more difficult (and expensive) than it is. It costs nothing, you don’t need a lawyer or anyone to represent you, even though they make it seem that way. I’ve written AO3 to see if they can aid us in the removal.
In the meantime, see this post for how to request a removal.
The original post I made to alert people is complete as far as the names I had in my subscriptions and history. Other people still need to search for theirs and other people they follow. If you find your works or someone else’s whose name is not already included in the list, please add it via comment to the original post, so they’re gathered in one place.
It doesn’t matter if you’re extremely prolific or if you’ve only ever written 1 fic in your life, seven years ago, the ebooks-tree site scraped everything they could from AO3, so even if you think your stuff can’t possibly be there, check! Several dozen people who didn’t expect to find their work or just looked on a whim, did actually find their stuff posted.
I’m pretty sure that we’ve found the culprits that were making AO3 crash by downloading everything they could as quickly as possible – the reason AO3 had to suspend new accounts, go offline for emergency maintenance, etc, not so long ago. The only reason your stories might not appear is because AO3 was able to
shut down the rapid downloading and block the bots doing it, before the
entire archive was scraped.
I’ve written to AO3, both at their account here on Tumblr ( ao3org ) and via the abuse contact on AO3 itself. There hasn’t been much time for them to respond yet, but I’ll let you know what they say when they get back to me.
Considering the extent of the thefts, and the impact it had on AO3, I’d be very surprised if they weren’t interested.
Fics that were *only* posted on AO3, as well as ones from ‘orphan_account’ – a purely AO3 device – pretty much seal the deal that that’s where they took them from and I can’t imagine any excuse ebooks-tree could give that these were an innocent mistake when there are such overwhelming numbers of them.
How to get your works removed (according to ebooks-tree):
Lots of people have said they’re going to write to them. I did, then realized that I had sent it to their ‘Contact’ link, which would seem to make sense, but that’s not going to do you any good.
You need to go into their DCMA link. A lot of language there is designed to make it seem daunting, labor-intensive, expensive (no, you do not need a lawyer), or damn-near impossible to get your works removed. Don’t be cowed. quicklikelight looked it over and this is essentially what we need to write (change the details, of course!):
———————-
My name is [name] and I am the author and owner of the following works: – “Of Hunters and Wolves” by “Quicklikelight” – “In the Woods” by “Quicklikelight” – “This is a Gift” by “AnneinColor” These are my intellectual property. I do not give you or anyone else permission to offer these works for download, and I did not consent for them to be available on your website. I am requesting that you remove them immediately. I can be reached by e-mail at [e-mail]. This information is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am authorized to act on my own behalf as the owner of this material.
Signed, [Name]
——————–
Cut and paste that into their contact form and make sure that you make the subject line read: “DMCA Complaint” or they won’t process it.
They said that the requests can take ‘up to a week’ for an email response. Now that’s a *response*, not necessarily a removal. I have a feeling these jerks are going to try and throw as many obstacles in the way as possible. Once someone gets a response and can share it, we’ll feel our way forward from there. The more of us who demand to have our works taken down, the better.
So, as a lot of you probably know, I recently hit 10k followers! I never ever thought I’d get this far so, in celebration, here is my big grand giveaway! But first a few Rules and stuff:
You MUST be following me to be eligible to win. I will check.
No Giveaway blogs. That’s just not fair.
Only Reblogs will count.
I can only ship within the US. Sorry
You must be willing to give me your address (obviously or else how r u gonna get the stuff??)
Giveaway ends May 4th
Also, BIG THANKS to tumblr user yoshiwara-den-of-sin (who runs AN AMAZING ETSY SHOP) for donating a few of their Hannibal-themed items for this giveaway. (YOU SHOULD ALL ABSOLUTELY CHECK OUT THEIR HELLA SHOP LIKE RIGHT NOW THEY’VE GOT MERCH FOR LIKE EVERY FANDOM).
Okay now for stuff:
1st Place: Your Choice of Seasons 1 and 2 (on blu ray) OR The Hannibal and Will Pop Funko Dolls. Also ONE item of your choice from user yoshiwara-den-of-sin’s donated merch (listed below) , AND a flower crown of your choice.
Seasons1&2 on blu ray. Condition: Like New.
Will and Hannibal Pop Funko Dolls, Still packaged.
Second: Stag Earrings and matching Charm Necklace (these two are a SET, not to separated).
Third: Another really cool Charm Necklace 😀
Now, I have two flower crowns:
Companion Cube NOT INCLUDED. (she’s just here to model).
Isn’t She sexy??
Whew! ok now
Second Place: All Four Hannibal Books by Thomas Harris + Your choice of whichever two items from yoshiwara-den-of-sin’s shop are left and + the remaining flower crown.
Third Place: One (Size: Large) Hannibal Hoodie + One (Size: Large) Hannibal tshirt +The remaining item from yoshiwara-den-of-sin’s shop.
ALRIGHT! That should do it. If you’ve got any questions, FEEL FREE to send me an ask. And as always: Thanks for following!
This makes me so happy | Mads dancing and singing to Pharrell Williams’ happy. [x]
NO BUT FOR REAL JUST BEFORE THAT HE SANG ALONG TO GREASE “YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT” AND HE TRIED TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE IT WAS NO BIG DEAL GROWN ASS MAN IN A TUXEDO IN ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FILM FESTIVALS IN THE WORLD SINGING BOTH JOHN TRAVOLTA’S AND OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN’S PARTS AND EVEN THE INSTRUMENTAL PARTS I HOPE THERE’S A VIDEO OF THIS SOMEWHERE I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD I COULDN’T GET UP TO RECORD IT WHEN IT HAPPENED
A Madness Between Two 