What's everyone up to?

We've been a bit quiet on this blog, recently, but thank you to everyone who has hit on us (grin) and who has visited New Concepts Publishing.

Blatant, ingenuous copyright infringement

Here is an egregious example of a shameless copyright infringer advising others how to make money over the internet.

General Chat - How Do We Make A Living ONLINE

"Max" writes (and I quote under the Fair Use provisions of the law, for the purposes of education and commentary and reportage)

I have been making a living online for around 10 years now. You are right, it's not easy!
It takes a lot of time and patience. One thing I have noted over the years is that its important to build a database of 'members' or customers, and keep in touch with them, but only when you have something useful to say!

I have used 'freebies' or 'giveaways' to entice people to join my services. This works well as it cost's absolutely nothing to giveaway a free book (for example), but you can guarantee that they will read your next email!

Over the years I have managed to build a small 'stable' of steady online businesses (I am a strong believer in 'bread and butter' income, and not the 'fast buck' ideas... which rarely work anyway!) through shear hard work and countless hours. I love the web and it's possibilities, however, you must always keep in mind, that its those people with money, are generally the ones who get the exposure, since they throw big bucks at their online projects for marketing campaigns

The answer to this, is to find a real niche, then put your all into it!

Max

Marketing Chat appears to be a "sponsor" of a book giveaway site, and since "Marketing Chat" links fold back to the freebie site, and to the home page and yahoogroup of the known and blatant copyright infringers most recently known as "BooksForNothing" I infer that Max is linked to the freebie master.

In fact, they post

Dear Members

This should make you feel that membership is worthwhile!

Here is 106 Free Business Books (you have to join their free Yahoo group first, but you will be amazed at the 1000's of books they give away, including other books like fiction, crafts, audio books etc!)

This selection of biz books is quite extensive, and there is definitly something there for everyone!

http://www.marketingchat.info/freebies.html

Regards
Max
Admin

YAHOO has refused to do a thing about this brazen, copyright infringing YAHOOGROUP for years. When I reported the group to YAHOO, yahoo banned me!

You many well be amazed at the 100's of books they give away... but the fact is, most of these books are given away by persons who have no right whatsoever to give those books away, and they do so in knowing and blatant violation of the authors' and publishers' rights.

GOOGLE, YAHOO, PAYPAL, FILESONIC all profit from this piracy, and all either drag their heels or do nothing to put a stop to this rampant, deliberate piracy, while Movie companies, Book Publishers, Software Manufacturers, Musicians, and others are ripped off.

They post this message:

Please note: Our pages get shut down on a regular basis (the book companies do not like us!) so join the club (form below) and you will never miss out on the latest goodies!

Join our FREE BOOKS club TODAY!

NOTE: Don't miss out!... 'Its the early bird that catches the worm'

Due to complaints by book companies, files get deleted all the time, so join the club using the form below, and you will be notified the minute a new bookmix has been completed!

Seeing the above, can there be any doubt that they are aware that they are infringing copyright? Why would any reasonable person think that book companies would be successful in getting files deleted, if not for DMCA notices?

Please feel free to share this post.

Intergalactic Justice Book II: Maximum Velocity!

Intergalactic Justice Book II: Maximum Velocity is now available in print format at New Concepts Publishing!
Join Samantha on her second daring adventure in my futuristic paranormal series!
Dark forces conspire against Samantha Cassidy and her family. With her niece taken by a ruthless Intergalactic Triad, Samantha must ally with a powerful man who was once her enemy and in doing so...she just might lose herself.

If You Believe That Authors Have A Right To Earn A Living

This is an email from Lucinda Dugger, Director of The Copyright Alliance:

Dear Copyright Advocates,

A couple weeks ago I emailed you about a bill that has been introduced in the Senate that will combat online infringement of copyrighted works (it's called the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act" or "COICA"). I encouraged you to sign a petition in favor of the bill.

Though many of you did this, our efforts have not been enough.

The opponents of this bill have been active in mobilizing the masses to speak out against it. The result of their efforts is that it seems like the public is against this bill. Yet, I hear from you everyday about how websites are illegally posting your creative works for others to take and how this affects your livelihood.

This bill would benefit all artists and creators! TAKE ACTION TODAY! Stand up for your rights!
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1.   Speak up on blogs and listservs.  Last week I blogged about a musician who spoke out in favor of the bill on a website. When he did so, others verbally attacked him calling him a "greedy pig" among other things. This musician and other artists need your support on this effort. Post blogs and comments on your own websites or on websites like this one.
2.   Contact your Senator and House Representative.  Tell your congressional representatives to vote YES to the bill. Tell them your story and how piracy and infringement affect you.

      To find and email your Senator, go here.
      To find and email your House Representative, go here.
3.   Tweet this:  Stop online piracy of art, music, movies, books, all creative works. Vote yes to Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act #COICA
4.   Facebook this:  The U.S. Congress is debating a bill that could help millions of artists around the world. If passed, the bill would allow the government to target and shut down "internet sites dedicated to infringing activities" which are "primarily designed" to access unauthorized copyrighted material. Tell your representatives to vote YES to the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA).
WHAT IS THIS BILL ABOUT?
1.   Check out this short video by independent filmmaker Ellen Seidler as she talks about how websites that are illegally hosting her movie are profiting. Yet, she is losing money. This bill will help shut down websites like these.
2.   The bill will not target minor violations of copyright. It will target "internet sites dedicated to infringing activities" that are "primarily designed" to offer or provide access to copyrighted material "without the authorization of the copyright owner."
3.   The Attorney General will be able to request a court order to suspend the domain names of U.S.-based infringing websites. For non-U.S.-based websites, the Attorney General will be able to request a court order to require the ISPs to block the website. Credit card companies and networks providing ads to these sites will also suspend all activity with the infringing sites.
4.   A list of all the domain names that are found to be infringing copyright protected content will be posted on a "publicly available Internet site, together with other relevant information, in order to inform the public."
REMEMBER PILFERED MAGAZINE?
Last February we made you aware of "Pilfered Magazine", an online magazine that freely took images from photographers without their permission and didn't credit or compensate the photographers. Because of your emails, Tweets, and postings on blogs and Facebook, the magazine was shut down in a weekend and has never reopened.

It is important that we take collective action on this bill too. Pilfered is not the only website that hosts and offers infringing material. This bill will help remove other websites like Pilfered from the internet.

ONE VOI©E: SPEAK UP FOR CREATORS' RIGHTS

Best,
Lucinda Dugger
P.S. If you received this email from a friend, and you are interested in receiving more information about how you can speak up for your rights, sign up for our network of Copyright Advocates.

New Release: Maximum Velocity by Marly Mathews

Hey Everyone! Maximum Velocity has released at New Concepts Publishing! This is the second book in my Intergalactic Justice Series!
Sometimes love can be dangerous....

Dark forces conspire against Samantha Cassidy and her family. With her niece taken by a ruthless Intergalactic Triad, Samantha must ally with a powerful man who was once her enemy and in doing so... she just might lose herself.

Open letter to John Scalzi, Scott Turow, Allison Kelley.

Open letter to the Presidents of RWA, SFWA, and Authors' Guild concerning copyright infringement.

Dear Scott Turow, Allison Kelley, John Scalzi,

Thank you very much for everything you do to defend authors' copyrights against copyright infringement. We very much appreciate having an address to which to send our complaints, and the comfort of knowing that you compile a database of the most egregious "pirates" and pirate sites.

Despite small triumphs, ignorance persists among honest readers; lies about the legality of "sharing" go unchallenged, and the problem is getting much worse.

Please Scott Turow, Allison Kelley, John Scalzi will you talk to one another, set up one powerhouse task force, meet regularly, share resources, engage your members, give authors one central "Go To" address where we can submit complaints, report piracy sites, blogs and yahoogroups, cc our individual take-down notices.

One forceful industry voice could shut down an entire account and insist on a hosting site complying with their own TOS where their TOS has been repeatedly violated, instead of individual authors taking down one file at a time.

Thank you.


Rowena Cherry (IWOFA)

Permission granted to forward, share, repost, or use as a template for other open letters.

The Authors Guild - Last Call: Google Settlement Seminars by Phone

The Authors Guild - Last Call: Google Settlement Seminars by Phone


Hi, colleagues.
I thought I'd share this (with permission)

For those still seeking more information about the Google Book Settlement, we'll be hosting five phone-in seminars next week. These are open to all authors and agents. The seminars are free, except for your usual long-distance phone charges. We've expanded the capacity to accommodate many more people. We encourage you to forward this on to other authors and groups of authors.

Each seminar will provide a short, clear explanation of the settlement and will answer all questions from participants. Each seminar will last about an hour. The seminars will be conducted by Paul Aiken, Jan Constantine, and Anita Fore, the Guild's Executive Director, General Counsel, and Director of Legal Services.

Here are the dates and times, click on a link to sign up:

Monday, January 25, 2010 at 10:00 AM Eastern Std Time

Monday, January 25, 2010 at 3:00 PM Eastern Std Time

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 10:00 AM Eastern Std Time

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 3:00 PM Eastern Std Time

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 10:00 AM Eastern Std Time

When a seminar is full, it will be removed from the list of options on the online registration form.

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