Authors Without A Yacht (AWaY) discussion

Take a look (but do not bid, of course) at this auction on EBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230440501981&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123#ht_538wt_993

You can tell that this vendor has misunderstood copyright law because he writes

<
This listing is for the Twilight saga e-books that I have.. Here are the title that are included:

1. Twilight

2. New Moon

3. Eclipse

4. Breaking Dawn

5. The Host

All books are in .pdf format (readable with adobe flash player).. I will send them to the buyer via e-mail within 2 days of purchase so be sure to include the email address where you want me to send your item..

If you have any further questions.. don't hesitate to use the contact seller option on the ebay page..

All sales are final..>>

Moreover, he writes that he has more than 10 copies available (and has sold 2). You simply cannot do that! Nor can you send ebooks through email.

Ebay should stop it. How hard could it be for them to do that?? If we don't act to stop this now, it can only get worse.

Barbara,
Unfortunately there is a "Safe Harbor" law which protects sites such as this. That is why some publishers are suing in Germany.

Do send your thoughts to the new Intellectual Property Czar.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/02/23/intellectual-property-and-risks-public

Do check out Brenna Lyons' letter and petition to Tom Donohoe, President of EBay.

Thank you for commenting here. The search engines are starting to find us. Don't forget to comment on the Simon Cowell/Terry Pratchett news discussion.

Best wishes,
Rowena Cherry

The sad thing is that ebay should WANT to stop it. Just as Google should WANT to stop these sites offering something that is illegal. It's disappointing that we have to fight so hard against big organizations who should show a stronger moral compass.

All those books are on 4shared.com for free; why would folks buy them as ebooks on eBay? I am doing up an expose piece on 4shared for my column 'Greene Ink', this next Thursday. Check it out:

http://sacramentobookreview.com/viewp...

Remarks welcome.

Meredith,

Your question goes right to the heart of why authors such as Brenna, Cheryl and myself (and many others) participate in discussions such as this.

We believe that the people who would buy them as ebooks on eBay (instead of downloading for nothing on a pirate site) are honest people, who have no idea that the vendors on EBay are selling the ebooks in violation of copyright.

The vendors lie. They claim to have copyright rights and "ReSell Rights" and even the right to sell "ReSell Rights".

EBay does not allow authors to post a public challenge to the truth of such statements.

Many eBayers are absolutely horrified when they learn that they have been tricked and cheated by these "ebook vendors" selling "their private collections."

Thank you for your comment, and thank you for sharing the link to your column.