Writer Beware

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The Scam of “Book Licensing”

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APR 5, 2024April 7, 20258 COMMENTS

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the common scam of "book returns insurance", in which scammers take something real (book returnability, a normal element of book publishing and selling) and spin it into a nonexistent "service" (a kind of "insurance" product, which you supposedly have to buy if you want your books to be returnable) for which they can charge big bucks.

Today's blog post focuses on the similarly deceptive scam of "book licensing". Like "returns insurance", this fictional item is based on something real (the licensing of rights that's necessary for publication) that scammers have distorted into an imaginary requirement they can monetize (a book license you supposedly must obtain in order for your book to be published or re-published).

To be clear, there is no such thing as a "book license"--at least, not in the sense that scammers use the term, meaning an item like a driver's license or a fishing license that you have to take steps to acquire and must have in order to do the thing associated with the license. As the copyright owner of your work (which you are, by law, from the moment you write down the words), you have the power to grant licenses for publication, but you do not have to obtain any kind of license or permission in order to do so. By re-framing licensing as something authors have to get, rather than something they are empowered to give, scammers turn the reality of licensing on its head.

To CCB or Not to CCB: The Question is Still Out

MAR 22, 2024March 22, 20247 COMMENTS

It’s been more than a year since my last post about the now not-so-new Copyright Claims Board (CCB).

Victoria covered the CCB when it first started hearing claims in June 2022, and her post gives a good summary of how it operates and what it is supposed to accomplish. The short version: The CCB was created as a judicial body under the US Copyright Office to administer small copyright claims that would be too expensive and/or time-consuming in federal court.

At the time I confess I was worried about an eventuality that fortunately hasn’t come true. There are vanishingly few copyright trolls trying to use the CCB to collect money from innocent or ignorant individuals by scaring them into paying settlements. On the other hand, it has worked for some business to business claims: Joe Hand Promotions, Inc., a company that “serves as the exclusive distributor of all Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and select boxing pay-per-view programming” is by far the most frequent CCB claimant, with forty-five claims and counting, mainly against bars and restaurants, and many of those are withdrawn from consideration by the CCB and apparently settled privately.

OVERSEAS SCAMS

The Impersonation List

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MAR 15, 2024March 27, 2026211 COMMENTS

The most pernicious scams focused on English-speaking writers these days come from overseas: publishing/marketing/fake literary agency scams from the Philippines, and ghostwriting/editing/marketing scams from Pakistan and India.

That's not to say there aren't plenty of scammers in the USA, Canada, UK, and Australia. And scams aren't all you need to watch out for: inexperienced literary agents (aka schmagents) and incompetent publishers can also hijack your work and create major problems for you. Right now, though, overseas scams are the ones you're most likely to encounter, and they are the most predatory.

An increasingly frequent fraudulent tactic, used primarily by the Philippine scammers, is impersonation: of reputable literary agents, major publishers, renowned movie production companies, even bookstores and organizations like the American Booksellers Association. The aim is to convince you that you're on the cusp of real, reputable representation, publication, immortality on the silver screen, books on shelves nationwide...there's just something you have to pay for first (a screenplay, a "cinematic trailer", an IP lawyer to handle contracts, "book licensing", a "book returnability program"...the list is endless). Once the scammer gets you on board, it's open season on your bank account: you will be heavily pressured to spend more and yet more money on goods and services that may be hugely overpriced, entirely fictional, never actually delivered, or all three.

PUBLISHER COMPLAINTS

Author Complaints at City Owl Press

MAR 8, 2024March 29, 202418 COMMENTS

City Owl Press (COP) describes itself as a "cutting edge indie publishing company, bringing the world of romance and speculative fiction to discerning readers." Co-founded in 2014 by authors Tina Moss and Yelena Casale, COP publishes romance, paranormal, fantasy, horror, and mystery, and has a large staff (including an unusual number of copy editors) and a substantial catalog of books and authors. Subsidiary rights are repped by Brower Literary & Management.

Until recently, a websearch on COP would have turned up little to raise concerns: no author complaints, a regular publishing schedule, positive reviews, coverage in the trade press, approval as a qualifying market by Romance Writers of America. However, there is a kind of alchemical process that I've witnessed many times over my years with Writer Beware, where long-standing strains and stresses within a publisher--hidden from public view and often from the authors themselves, who don't realize how widespread the problems they've experienced are until they start comparing notes--abruptly reach critical mass and boil to the surface in the form of a rush of complaints.

That process began for COP in January 2024. Over the past weeks, I've heard from multiple COP authors who cite an enormous variety of issues, described by most as long-standing, of which the most frequent include:

SCAMS AND SCAMMERS

Coping With Scams: Suggestions for Changing Your Mindset

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FEB 23, 2024February 23, 202413 COMMENTS

Today I'm blogging again over at Writer Unboxed.

Recently, a writer contacted me to ask about the legitimacy of an email they'd just received, from someone claiming to be a literary agent interested in representing them.

All by itself, the solicitation itself was a warning sign: reputable agents, who are drowning in submissions, have no need to drum up business and don't typically cold-call writers to hawk their services. But I'd also gotten several complaints about this purported agent, so I knew for sure this was a "beware".

CONTRACTS

Outrage Over New Terms of Use at Findaway Voices Forces Change

FEB 19, 2024June 30, 202532 COMMENTS

A little over a year ago, controversy arose over a provision of Findaway Voices' distribution agreement that granted Apple a license to use rights holders' audiobook files for “machine learning”, aka AI training. (Findaway Voices, if you're not familiar with it, is an audiobook creation service that's a popular alternative to Audible's ACX.)

Part of the agreement for years, this provision had not previously been flagged as problematic, as far as I know. But in February 2023, the environment was different, thanks to the rapid and recent general release of new generative AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E, and the creative community's growing concern about generative AI's implications for copyrights and livelihoods.

Re-discovered, the machine learning provision created a social media uproar. Rights holders rushed to contact Findaway and opt out of the provision. Responding to complaints from members, SAG-AFTRA met with Findaway and Apple to share concerns; in a statement after the meeting, SAG-AFTRA staff reported a "positive" interaction and a pledge by Findaway and Apple to immediately "halt any/all use of files for machine learning purposes."