Mary Stewart's Arthurian series still being knocked off?

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

The omnibus at Smashwords has been up since (as far as I know) this was first discussed here on Mobileread years ago. Every few years, like eating a can of peppery beans, some individuals on Mobileread get all fired up. Then, once its out of their systems, an uneasy quiet prevails (with the occasional 'outburst' of pent-up gas to let us know the issue is still current). Later, someone brings a newly-bought can-opener to the party, along with another can of beans, and the discussion - like a zombie on steroids - starts all over again.

My observation: Smashwords continues to do nothing about this.

Here's a suggestion: The Smashwords creator is a member here (if my memory is correct). I suggest someone with an interest in this issue PM him and suggest that he remove this bogus omnibus. Whether anything is done, of course, remains to be seen.

Me: I plan to buy the legit Omnibus when it becomes available in the U.S. The covers look wonderful.

The biggest issue is that some of these books appear as legit books on Amazon. I bought the Mary Stewart bundle back when it first appeared on Amazon. I thought it was legit at the time. Then Amazon quietly removes it and if I hadn't noticed this thread, I would have no idea that the version that I have may not be legit. I want to make sure that the author gets paid, of course, in this case, since Lady Stewart is dead and has no children that is kind of academic. (she really should have gone by her given name Mary Rainbow, what a name!)

[cromag]

I don't know what criteria Smashwords uses for identifying and verifying pirated works. I do know that I spotted, and reported, two blatant pirates just this past weekend who posted obviously pirated works (including current best sellers like 50 Shades of Gray) and they were pulled Monday morning. I assume Smashwords isn't big enough to provide 24/7 oversight.

In the case of older back-listed items, where many authors do switch to self-publishing, it probably would be helpful if the current rights-owner contacted them.

[DrNefario]

When I started this thread (and I'm little embarrassed by the colloquialism of the title) I was trying to decide whether to buy the omnibus (and Mary Stewart was still alive). I decided not to.

Even if I were able to convince myself that piracy was OK, for me, in some circumstances, I am never going to be happy to pay someone else to pirate things.

[JSWolf]

Please everyone reading this thread go to Smashwords and report these books. We know they are pirated and yet Smashwords sits with head firmly entrenched up the backside and does nothing even when these books have been reported.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Please everyone reading this thread go to Smashwords and report these books. We know they are pirated and yet Smashwords sits with head firmly entrenched up the backside and does nothing even when these books have been reported.

I don't think this is really helpful.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I don't know if Smashwords is considered a Publisher, or if they define themselves as a Publisher.

I'll need to go back and look at their statements on this. (You may be right with that definition, but I want to check further.)

I misunderstood your comment. I thought you meant that the person who'd posted the omnibus to Smashwords was a member of MobileRead.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I misunderstood your comment. I thought you meant that the person who'd posted the omnibus to Smashwords was a member of MobileRead.

My "Smashwords creator" phrase was vague, so my apologies.

The person who created Smashwords is what I meant to say. I think he's a member.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Please everyone reading this thread go to Smashwords and report these books. We know they are pirated and yet Smashwords sits with head firmly entrenched up the backside and does nothing even when these books have been reported.

As others have said, Mark Coker, the founder of Smashwords, is a member of this site. Has anyone tried sending him a PM about this?

Shari

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Please everyone reading this thread go to Smashwords and report these books. We know they are pirated and yet Smashwords sits with head firmly entrenched up the backside and does nothing even when these books have been reported.

You'd probably have better luck going to Mary Stewart's US publisher, Harper Collins: http://www.harpercollins.com/for-authors/report-piracy

There's always the off chance that the book isn't pirated and that's why Harper Collins doesn't offer an e-book.

If nothing else, perhaps if Harper Collins has a slew of these emails come in, they will re-examine releasing e-book versions.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

You'd probably have better luck going to Mary Stewart's US publisher, Harper Collins: http://www.harpercollins.com/for-authors/report-piracy

There's always the off chance that the book isn't pirated and that's why Harper Collins doesn't offer an e-book.

If nothing else, perhaps if Harper Collins has a slew of these emails come in, they will re-examine releasing e-book versions.

Not to mention the rest of the Mary Stewart books!

[pdurrant]

The first in her series is a UK daily deal - still a couple of hours to get it!

The Crystal Cave - £0.99 ay Amazon UK

[cromag]

I wrote to Smashwords about the anthology and the questions of its legitimacy and directed them to this thread. The response I got reads, in part:

Thank you for reporting this thread. This book does come up from time to time, but the publisher of it has shown us his rights to sell it in this form (books 1-4) in digital format. If we do get a notice from Harper Collins about a contract change, then we'd take action, if the publisher doesn't do it himself.
...

At the very least this doesn't seem to be a black and white case. In particular, I wonder why Harper Collins has (apparently) not yet contacted Smashwords.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cromag

I wrote to Smashwords about the anthology and the questions of its legitimacy and directed them to this thread. The response I got reads, in part:



At the very least this doesn't seem to be a black and white case. In particular, I wonder why Harper Collins has (apparently) not yet contacted Smashwords.

If these were real, they would NOT be sold on Smashwords.

[cromag]

Why not?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cromag

Why not?

Because these books have geo-rights. By selling them on Smashwords, they are not geo-restricted. The eBooks are legal in the UK. But not in the US. So if there were legal eBooks in the US, they would be some geo-restricted and with DRM. That and do you really think Harpercollins would sell their eBooks via Smashwords? No way!