Dealing with Pirates
Arrrr, mateys! Today I’m talking about pirates!
No, not the Johnny Depp brand or even the stinky peg-legged ones with gold teeth. I’m talking about something very serious—book pirating.
Yes, piracy is an act of robber on the high seas. But it’s also defined as the unauthorized reproduction or use of copyrighted material, a patented invention, a trademarked product, etc.
You can pirate movies, music, and books. You’ve all seen the disclaimer at the beginning of movies stating that to reproduce this movie will earn you jail time and steep fines. Well, we’re all pretty afraid of the Feds knocking on our door to retrieve our bootlegged collection of Bruce Willis movies. But what about books?
A friend offers to send you the file she downloaded from her online book purchase. You open it, load to your device, and read. Is this piracy?
A friend passes you her Kindle on your lunch hour and tells you to enjoy. Is this piracy?
What’s the difference? A big one. E-book piracy is the separation of the original material from its origin. In this case, the file came off her computer— SEPARATION. But when she shares her Kindle with you, that’s different. Some e-books can be loaned through Amazon to friends, and I encourage all of you to do that.
As authors, we hate pirates. One author learns about a site that has stolen her books and she flips. After notifying all her friends, who also have content stolen, we stampede the site and emails start flying. So what do you write to a pirate?
Here’s a legal letter to send. Copy and paste into your email, but make sure to add the proper heading, book info, ISBN, author contacts, etc.
Attn: XXX
Pursuant to 17 USC 512(c)(3)(A), this communication serves as a statement that:
(1). I am the duly authorized representative of the exclusive rights holder for XXX(publisher or self-published LLC) and all of its holdings;
(2). These exclusive rights are being violated by material available upon your site at the following URL(s): [URLs of infringing material];
(3) I have a good faith belief that the use of this material in such a fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the copyright holder’s agent, or the law;
(4) Under penalty of perjury in a United States court of law, I state that the information contained in this notification is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on the behalf of the exclusive rights holder for the material in question;
(5) I may be contacted by the following methods:
Send mail to: XXX
Call: XXX
Or
Email: XXX
I hereby request that you remove or disable access to this material as it appears on your service in as expedient a fashion as possible. The following two books on this link must be removed: ADD LINKS OF YOUR BOOKS ON PIRATE SITE
Thank you for your kind cooperation.
Signature
This usually gets their attention pretty quickly. If days pass without response, I find that a well-placed nasty word or two in the heading of an email gets them scampering. I’m not encouraging ill-treatment of pirates. We should always use manners and professionalism. However, I sometimes get a little saucy, and it has always worked to my benefit.
I hope this helps you in the future! Please read on for an excerpt from my historical pirate erotic romance LORD OF THE SEA.
A golden blonde wisp of hair had escaped her tight sailor’s hat. With a growl, he snatched it off her head. A mass of waves tumbled down.
Sebastian’s heart pulsed heavily as he realized who he was staring at. “Jesus, woman, have you no sense?”
His bellow drew attention and several shouts went up.
“Woman!”
“Blimey!”
“Ya filthy cockroach, Diggims, I call first rights!”
Her voice was reedy with fear. “What have you done?”
The thunder of boots and wooden clogs on the deck jarred Sebastian from his shock. Fuck, they were stampeding them.
He threw his body in front of Aria Croft and shielded her from the mass of randy seamen who would gladly lay their grimy fingers on her. “Back off!” he shouted, unsheathing his sword. The scrape of steel rang out.
They instantly stopped their advance. Quade shoved through them, sending their bodies careening to the sides in order to forge a path to Sebastian.
Behind Sebastian, Aria was trembling like a sapling in a stiff headwind. He had her pressed between another big crate and his body, wanting nothing more than to turn and feel her fully against his length.
Fighting annoyance, fury, and arousal, he managed to keep his voice steady, easily overriding Quade’s authority. “Return to your duties at once, or I’ll have every one of your rations cut!”
A few groans answered, and several men turned away. The ones who remained glared at him.
“Bloody bad luck to have a woman on ship!”
“Yarrr!”
“Toss her over!” This came from Quade.
Aria dug her fingers into Sebastian’s spine, terror coming off her in waves. And her scents infusing him with absolute lust.
“I forbid anyone to lay a hand on this woman. She’s mine.” With that, he spun to face her and plucked her off her feet. Keeping his sword pointed at the hungry faces of the crew, he backed away from the crowd. One man lunged forward with the intent to snatch Aria from him, and Sebastian sliced off his pinky finger with the flick of his blade.
The sailor yowled in pain, and a collective shiver ran through the men.
In five long strides, Sebastian reached the hatchway leading to his quarters.
Hitching her against him, he navigated the narrow stairs in a blink. As he descended, he didn’t realize he carried her higher in his arms, and her head smacked the bulkhead.
“Owww!” That familiar howl made him freeze.
“Gods, Aria, is it really you?” He descended the last step and set her on her feet. Behind her, the opulent ruby silk covering his bed called to him, urging him to walk her back until her knees hit the edge, tumbling her onto the thick, soft mattress.
His cock hardened further in his pants, until it was nearly strangled by the tight wool. He continued to hold her upper arms, studying her up close. The shutter covering the small cut-out in the hull had been left open and the bright sunlight slanted into the space, illuminating her lustrous curls and very bright aquamarine eyes.
“Sebastian? Lord du Loc?”
Irritation prickled in him, but didn’t tamp down his desire. If anything, it flamed at the throaty tone of her voice. Her womanly curves beckoned to him. How narrow was her waist beneath that billowing blouse?
“Don’t call me that.”
“That’s correct.” Her voice wavered and she dropped her gaze. “You’re not the boy I once knew.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And this bothers you, Aria? You’re far from the girl I left in North Derbyshire.” He pinched the delicate point of her chin and lifted her face to meet her gaze. “In fact, one would think you’d lost your mind. What in hell—?”
She cut across him with her words. “Do not judge me for running, Sebastian, when you left in the midst of the war and never returned!”
Heat flamed in his face and inspired the need to shoot something. He clenched his fingers. When she squeaked, he realized he still held her by the chin. He released her so quickly, she rocked on her heels.
“Damn, you still don’t have your sea legs. Pitching around like a landlubber,” he muttered. But she did have exquisitely shaped calves that he wanted to explore more than a trunk filled with rare gems and golden trinkets.
Her blue eyes snapped. “How very like you to turn the topic.”
Anger flared and he had hold of her again, pushing her up against the mahogany paneled wall. Up close, her eyes were flecked with green and her rum-scented breath washed across his face. “I’m in charge here, Miss Croft. And a good thing I am! Or perhaps you’d like to face forty irate sailors?”
“Is that better than one angry pirate?” she shot back.
He growled, biting off a smile. So her spirit hadn’t ebbed away with maturity. As a young girl, she’d defied everyone from her nurse to her father, who had been a formidable foe. Even now, Sebastian didn’t know how she’d had the innards to try it.
“We’ll see how you answer that after you’ve told me what in blazes you’re doing on my ship.”
She had the grace to flush a deep crimson. With amusement, he watched the blush mottle the ivory column of her throat and light her cheeks. He felt like stroking a fingertip over the crest of one cheek, just to feel the heat.
No. He wanted to turn her over his knee and redden her arse for being here.
BUY LORD OF THE SEA
Thanks for reading!
Em Petrova
~hardworking heroes—in bed and out~
http://hardworkingheroes.wordpress.com