Pirated ebooks on Google Play?

GeoffR · 02-01-2015, 09:52 AM

Do any of these ebooks look suspicious? They seem to be only available on Google Play:

Probable pirate links deleted by moderator

crich70 · 02-01-2015, 11:18 AM

I'd be more suspicious if they were offered for free. Especially the C.J. Cherryh books as (as far as I know) she is still with us. Of course anything is possible, but are you sure they are only available there? I'm sure there are a lot of ebook sites out there (not all of them legal) so it might be that they are up for sale at other sites and you just haven't found them yet.

GeoffR · 02-01-2015, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crich70

I'd be more suspicious if they were offered for free. Especially the C.J. Cherryh books as (as far as I know) she is still with us. Of course anything is possible, but are you sure they are only available there? I'm sure there are a lot of ebook sites out there (not all of them legal) so it might be that they are up for sale at other sites and you just haven't found them yet.

Actually it is the C. J. Cherryh books I am most suspicious of, because two of the books (Heavy Time and Hellburner) are available for sale from the author's website, and the site has a page that lists all the other places that the books may be legally purchased, and there is no other place listed where these two books can be legally purchased.

crich70 · 02-01-2015, 02:32 PM

I haven't read much of hers myself. I did read one about cat like beings who were on a space ship racing towards the end of the universe via time dilation. I can't recall the name of the book though. I suppose it is possible that someone illegally uploaded the books you list to Google. Certainly it happened over at Amazon with 1984 some yrs ago. I wonder why Google books hasn't caught it though if that's the case.

theducks · 02-01-2015, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crich70

I haven't read much of hers myself. I did read one about cat like beings who were on a space ship racing towards the end of the universe via time dilation. I can't recall the name of the book though. I suppose it is possible that someone illegally uploaded the books you list to Google. Certainly it happened over at Amazon with 1984 some yrs ago. I wonder why Google books hasn't caught it though if that's the case.

The Chauner series

pwalker8 · 02-01-2015, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Actually it is the C. J. Cherryh books I am most suspicious of, because two of the books (Heavy Time and Hellburner) are available for sale from the author's website, and the site has a page that lists all the other places that the books may be legally purchased, and there is no other place listed where these two books can be legally purchased.

Most likely pirated. C.J. Cherryh's Morgaine series won't be release in ebook until this September. (one of the books listed in the first post is from that series). Amazon has the same problem. I saw a couple of Roger Zelazny ebooks, included the first Amber book that the customer service rep assured me was legit (I called since I was skeptical). A day later it was confirmed by Roger Zelazny's son that it was a pirated copy. Many of these ebooks stores depend on an honor system and require the actual copyright owner to send a take down request.

I've found that if you think it's suspicious and it's only in one ebook store, it's most likely pirated.

crich70 · 02-02-2015, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

The Chauner series

It may be. I don't recall a lot of the book. Wikipedia spells it as Chanur though.

Are any of her books currently (legally) available in ebook format?

HarryT · 02-02-2015, 03:45 AM

Moderator Notice
Given the high probability that these are pirated books, I've deleted the links in the original message.

theducks · 02-02-2015, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crich70

It may be. I don't recall a lot of the book. Wikipedia spells it as Chanur though.

Are any of her books currently (legally) available in ebook format?

Closed Circle Gateway ebook-catalog/ is the authors run site And has books no longer under contract (plus other work)

The Chanur series is not there

Little.Egret · 02-02-2015, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crich70

It may be. I don't recall a lot of the book. Wikipedia spells it as Chanur though.

Are any of her books currently (legally) available in ebook format?

Lots. For example Foreigner (DAW)

GeoffR · 02-03-2015, 03:49 PM

I reported some of the books to the authors and publishers, and some have been removed from sale, only for the exact same book to be uploaded under a different publisher name within 24 hours.

I think Google and other retailers should require a deposit from those uploading books, it might discourage the pirates if they stand to lose some money.

robko · 02-03-2015, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I reported some of the books to the authors and publishers, and some have been removed from sale, only for the exact same book to be uploaded under a different publisher name within 24 hours

I'm not sure it would be reasonable for them to check every book before it went up, but I do think it would be reasonable for them to flag titles for further verification if they have been removed because they were pirated and are resubmitted (to prevent the above). Not sure if a deposit would have an impact or not. Good idea, but where does the balance between being high enough to discourage the pirates seeking a quick buck and being too onerous for legit publishers to have to put it up. Tough one.

Dopedangel · 02-04-2015, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robko

I'm not sure it would be reasonable for them to check every book before it went up, but I do think it would be reasonable for them to flag titles for further verification if they have been removed because they were pirated and are resubmitted (to prevent the above). Not sure if a deposit would have an impact or not. Good idea, but where does the balance between being high enough to discourage the pirates seeking a quick buck and being too onerous for legit publishers to have to put it up. Tough one.

Google has a system for youtube that can identify pirated videos or copyrighted music. Should not be very hard for them to test each uploaded book for legitimacy. If they had such a system it will also give a kick in the backsides of publishers to digitise older titles and give google rights to scan them. As google cant identify a book as pirated unless it has the original. Although rights for different regions being with different publishers would be another headache for Google.

02-01-2015, 09:52 AM	#1
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	Pirated ebooks on Google Play? Do any of these ebooks look suspicious? They seem to be only available on Google Play: Probable pirate links deleted by moderator Last edited by HarryT; 02-02-2015 at 03:45 AM. Reason: BookZilla

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02-01-2015, 11:18 AM	#2
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,309 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I'd be more suspicious if they were offered for free. Especially the C.J. Cherryh books as (as far as I know) she is still with us. Of course anything is possible, but are you sure they are only available there? I'm sure there are a lot of ebook sites out there (not all of them legal) so it might be that they are up for sale at other sites and you just haven't found them yet.

02-01-2015, 02:32 PM	#4
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,309 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I haven't read much of hers myself. I did read one about cat like beings who were on a space ship racing towards the end of the universe via time dilation. I can't recall the name of the book though. I suppose it is possible that someone illegally uploaded the books you list to Google. Certainly it happened over at Amazon with 1984 some yrs ago. I wonder why Google books hasn't caught it though if that's the case.

02-02-2015, 03:45 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Moderator Notice Given the high probability that these are pirated books, I've deleted the links in the original message.

02-03-2015, 03:49 PM	#11
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	I reported some of the books to the authors and publishers, and some have been removed from sale, only for the exact same book to be uploaded under a different publisher name within 24 hours. I think Google and other retailers should require a deposit from those uploading books, it might discourage the pirates if they stand to lose some money.

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