SCRIBD.COM - How I learned about the copyright infringement

SCRIBD.COM – How I learned about the copyright infringement

On November 9, 2009, in SCRIBD.COM, Writing & Publishing, by Wilfried F. Voss

On November 6, 2009 I received an e-mail from a friend, informing me that one of my books, and a book I publish for him, has been posted IN FULL on the scribd.com web site. As of the same date there have been 935 “reads” on both books since June this year, which translates in a loss of sales volume of almost $20,000 for me and my friend and his co-authors.

Case #1 – Embedded Networking with CAN and CANopen
Authors: Olaf Pfeiffer, Andrew Ayre, and Christoph Keydel
ISBN 978-0976511625

Embedded Networking with CAN and CANopen on Scribd.com

The image to the left (see also the screen shots in higher resolution) shows a screen shot made on November 6, 2009. The PDF file was uploaded by a user “gustafhaarhoff” on June 9, 2009. The screen shot clearly shows the copyright message. The PDF file of the book is available as a download for everybody.

Underneath the book information is a link “MORE INFO” leading to a section where other users can copy code to embedd the “document” into their web site.

Needless to say that the user name is a fake. Nobody with that name ever purchased the PDF file through the publisher’s web site. The user cannot be contacted through the Scribd.com web site, unless you, as the victim of the crime, sign up as a user and wait for the perpetrator to “subscribe” to you, i.e. there is no way to contact a user who infringed the copyright, knowingly or not.

Case #2 – A Comprehensible Guide to J1939
Author: Wilfried Voss
ISBN 978-0976511632

A Comprehensible Guide to J1939 on Scribd.com

Underneath the book information is a link “MORE INFO” leading to a section where other users can copy code to embedd the “document” into their web site.

I contacted the scribd.com legal department, namely some Jason Bentley – Director of Customer Care. Originally I received an automated response with the invitation to add comments and adding comments I did, without being insulting.

Mr. Bentley’s response was: “Thank you for your feedback. Your interpretation of our automated response is bizarre and simply wrong. I am closing this case pending receipt of a legally valid takedown request.”

So, he did close my current request, and I have to apply for a removal yet again, because he didn’t care for my comments.

However, this is not where it ends. I did some further research and found more examples of copyrighted literature freely available as a download on scribd.com. Further victims of copyright infringements through the scribd.com web site are:

Springer-Verlag, New York
Booklocker.com, Inc.

According to Booklocker.com, one of their books has been read more than 13,000 times through the scribd.com web site! Another one was read more than 900 times.

I can only assume that the list of copyright infringements is much larger, and I encourage everybody who is involved with writing and/or publishing to check the scribd.com web site. Please feel free to leave a message here as well.

Legal Disclaimer:

While the author has used his best efforts in preparing this article, he makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this article. The opinions expressed in this article are entirely of personal nature. Please contact the author in case you feel that the article contains information that is incorrect or misleading.