My Copyright Litigation Story

In 2016 I was perusing books on Amazon with a friend when we stumbled across a book that seemed to be problematic.

That book was in the same genre as my book, PART-TIME PRINCESS ©2014. The problematic book ©2016 had many of my character names (for same roles), most of my plot, and lots of my words that I had written and published over two years previously in PART-TIME PRINCESS.

I sent both paper books to my entertainment attorney who read them agreed with me. My attorney sent a C&D to the author in question. The author’s attorneys denied the C&D. My attorney no longer practiced litigation and advised me to find a litigator. And so I did.

That litigator contacted the opposing parties, presented evidence, and talked with them, but to no avail. We tried our very best to settle this whole thing without making it public, but the statute of limitations for copyright infringement was running out, and I was left with the option to confront or not confront.

And so in 2019 I chose to confront. This was not easy or frivolous for me. I tracked and graphed written passages from both books. I hired expert witnesses. I researched and compiled side by side comparisons. This was the toughest thing I’ve ever done.

The judge decided to not look at the evidence as submitted by my attorneys and I did not get the judicial ending that I wanted.

I filed for an Appeal and was granted one in Federal Appeals Court. At this point I was offered mediation. I decided to pursue mediation and end this heart-breaking process. I hope you never have to go through this. Here’s my update:

Re: My Copyright Lawsuit #Settlement

8/2/2021

I recently learned things were said about me/my CRI suit on public pages in January 2021. This post is to set my record straight.

I stuttered at an early age, grew shy. Books saved me when I was kid. #STORIESMATTER. As a Chiropractor, I worked with Erin Brockovich. Inspired by her pursuit to help people, I pitched her story to Jersey Films. “ABC 20/20 Primetime” recently featured me on their show because of my part in this. #STORIESINSPIRE.

In 2010 a small press published my 1^st book. After that I went Indie. 30 books later, I’m a USA Today Bestselling author.

I wrote “Part-time Princess: Royally Wed” – a ‘sweeter’ romantic comedy while my mom was dying. I published it in 2014 and dedicated it to her. This STORY MATTERED.

But then the ‘thing’ happened and in October 2019, I bit the bullet and sued for Copyright infringement. In January 2021, Judge Wu ruled against me WITHOUT LOOKING at my evidence.

Legal minds encouraged me to Appeal. I filed Notice to Appeal in Feb 2021. It hit home that I already spent 4 ½ years on this and really didn’t want to spend 2 more. When the Federal Appeals Court system offered Mediation, I said “Yes.”

Parties mediated in May 2021 and a SETTLEMENT & AGREEMENT was reached and signed JUNE 16 – 17, 2021.

Mediation is a compromise. Both “Plaintiffs and defendants stand behind their respective allegations and denials…” “Defendants deny any wrongdoing whatsoever…”

I also STICK BY my allegations 100 percent. But as of June 2021 — NOT January 2021 as promoted on other sites — this CRI litigation is OVER.

To give back to the #amwriting community — I’ve started a CRI “RESOURCE” page on my website. There are links to articles, experts, blogs, etc. It’s in the early stages, a WIP, a library of sorts. It’s NOT a discussion board.

TY from the bottom of my black and blue heart to all the generous, kind, smart folks who supported me during this visit to the 9th realm of hell. You are amazing! Special thanks to #ClaireRyan who provided her graphed out plagiarism analysis, her conclusions, and her copyright infringement comparison expertise.

My case is public record.

You can Google it and find it. It is an interesting read for persons who believe they have been repurposed by others using AI / text spinners / computer software for words, stories, or photographs.

To all you book lovers and hard-working, STORYTELLERS: You inspire me. Be fierce. Be brave. Stick up for yourself /your works. You don’t have to fight EVERY battle. Pick the ones that matter the most. Be kind. Help those in your community. Keep writing. Remember your voice matters. Your stories matter. You matter.

Xo, Pam

#romancebloggers #romancebookstagram #bookstagram #romancereadersofinstagram #eroticromance #eroticromancenovels #copyrightlitigation #mediation #copyrightsettlement #romancenovels #romanticcomedybooks #amwriting #amreadingromance #royalromancebooks #sweetromance #amwritingromance

HELPFUL COPYRIGHT INFORMATION for YOU

First off — if you’re here? I’m sorry this has happened to you or someone you know. Second — I’m not an attorney and I don’t give legal advice. This page is an on-going WIP. I’ll be adding links to resources I think / thought are helpful.

This page is meant to be a library of links. As with any library I’m not responsible for the content in the linked articles nor do I agree with all the content in the links provided.

KEYWORDS: I’m adding keywords to these links so you can better target that which you might be looking for.

As always, talk to an attorney before you make any decisions regarding the issue you are facing. The best kind of attorney to talk to is an INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Attorney. To be clear — not someone who DABBLES in IP litigation. But an attorney who truly understands IP Litigation. This is a niche area of law.

Publishing Blogs that frequently discuss Plagiarism

David Vandagriff – The Passive Voice https://www.thepassivevoice.com/

Jonathan Bailey – Plagiarism Today https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/about-plagiarism-today/about-the-author/

Jane Friedman: https://www.janefriedman.com/blog/

Dear Author: https://dearauthor.com/

Sidebar Saturdays: https://www.sidebarsaturdays.com/

AI copyright infringement lawsuits and plagiarism resources

A compilation of articles and lawsuits that involve Artificial Intelligence / Computer software in acts of plagiarism and potential copyright infringement.

THE WRAP “A Writer used AI to Plagiarize me” Jan 18 2023 Alex Kartrowitz https://www.thewrap.com/a-writer-used-ai-to-plagiarize-me-now-what-pro-insight/

Class Action Copyright Lawsuit filed against Midjourney, Deviant Art, and Stability Jan 2023 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/class-action-filed-against-stability-ai-midjourney-and-deviantart-for-dmca-violations-right-of-publicity-violations-unlawful-competition-breach-of-tos-301721869.html?fbclid=IwAR098mhy2dtCWAP3FyjSfZab1x739bi_AZQwv9kN783PpU553kG7CSZ-k4s

ARTICLES

NYT “An Erotica Pioneer Goes from Hero to Villain for Dozens of Authors” September 2021 Keywords: Unauthorized re-writing books, Copyright, Trademark https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/business/romance-publishing-blushing-erotica.html

CBC News: Romance Ripoff August 2019 – https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/plaigiarism-in-romance-1.5220734

The Atlantic “Plagiarism in the Age of Self-Publishing” June 2016 – https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/06/plagiarism-in-the-age-of-self-publishing/485525/

The Guardian ” …Exposed as plagiarist ” 2015 Keywords: M/F romance repurposed as M/M romance. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/28/prolific-romantic-fiction-writer-exposed-as-a-plagiarist

Dear Author: “RWA Panel on Plagiarism” 2008 https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/rwa-panel-on-plagiarism/

Dear Author: “Plagiarism is a Community Issue” 2008 https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/plagiarism-is-a-community-issue/

Dear Author: “State of Plagiarism Today” 2009 https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/cross-blog-post-state-of-plagiarism-today/

Dear Author: “Fan Fiction, Plagiarism, and Copyright” 2012 Keywords: Fan Fiction, Plagiarism https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/fan-fiction-plagiarism-and-copyright/

Dear Author: “10 Tips for Plagiarists” 2007 https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/top-10-tips-for-plagairists/

Chron “Rules for Re-writing Copyrighted Text” https://smallbusiness.chron.com/rules-rewriting-copyrighted-text-68672.html

AUTHORS WHO HAVE BEEN PLAGIARIZED

Sometimes it helps reading about someone else’s story to hear how they felt. To see how they handled it.

Ashleigh Zavarelli 2022 Keywords: Mosaic Plagiarism COMMENT: Reported to Amazon who took the offending book down. http://<iframe src=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAZavarelli%2Fposts%2F3080981245562081&show_text=true&width=500″ width=”500″ height=”684″ style=”border:none;overflow:hidden” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”true” allow=”autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share”></iframe>

Kim Jones – 2021 https://www.facebook.com/1062060203/videos/10221530499826168/

Ayden Morgan – 2020

Kim Michelle Richardson 2019 – https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tomiobaro/jojo-moyes-the-giver-of-stars-kim-richardson-bookwoman-of

Almost Everyone v. #CopypasteCris – 2019 https://bookbinge.com/tag/copy-paste-cris/

Becky McGraw – 2015 – Becky’s re-purposer re-wrote her M/F Cowboy romance book repurposed as M/M. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/28/prolific-romantic-fiction-writer-exposed-as-a-plagiarist

Rachel Ann Nunes – 2014 Keywords: Sweeter romance repurposed as steamy romance — Comment: Ms. Nunes documents the steps along the way in her legal case. Her posts are a great play by play of the legal process. My heart goes out to her and I applaud her bravery. https://rachelannnunes.com/how-i-learned-my-novel-had-been-plagiarized/

Nora Roberts / Janet Dailey Plagiarism — FWIW: Nora Roberts should probably get her own section. She’s been fighting this battle on multiple fronts for so many years I’ve lost count. https://www.ithenticate.com/plagiarism-detection-blog/when-romance-meets-plagiarism#.YQT221NKjUo

“Plagiarism in Romantic Fiction” Caroline Kincaid 2019 https://sites.duke.edu/unsuitable/plagiarism-in-romantic-fiction/

“Shey Stahl Plagiarism Scandal” Dear Author Keywords: Plagiarism in Fan Fiction Community https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/monday-news-shey-stahl-plagiarism-scandal-goodreads-deletes-reviews-without-notice-amazon-shares-at-an-all-time-high-cosplay-copyright-and-paid-for-reviews/

Jamie McGuire – 2013 https://www.jamiemcguire.com/blog/2013/11/10/the-worst-and-best-day-of-my-career

Tamara Webber – 2013 — Dear Author: “The Plagiarizing of Tamara Webber’s Easy” https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/the-plagiarizing-of-tammara-webbers-easy-by-jordin-williams/

SMART PEOPLE w/ Tools to battle PLAGIARISM

Claire Ryan https://claireryanauthor.com/ 2022 Update: I’m not sure if Claire Ryan is still helping authors with plagiarism. That said — she’s brilliant — and worth reaching out to her if you’re having a problem.

PLAGIARISM CHECKERS

These tools get better every year but nothing’s perfect. Find the ones that work for you.

https://www.plagscan.com/en/

LOOKING FOR/TALKING TO ATTORNEYS

The Author’s Guild https://www.authorsguild.org – I DON’T think you have to be a member to contact them for a referral — but I might be wrong.

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism isn’t simply “Copy and Paste.” There are other forms of plagiarism such as ‘MOSAIC’ or ‘PATCHWORK’ plagiarism where one’s words are re-written to look a ‘little different.’

Types of Plagiarism: https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism/types-of-plagiarism/

Mosaic / Patchwork Plagiarism https://writer.com/blog/types-of-plagiarism/

I just found out — what should I do?

Should I call my Re-purposer out on Social Media? Should I wait? Thoughts?

Take Down Notices — DCMA

DEALING WITH THE AFTERMATH OF WHITE COLLAR CRIME

FBI – Dealing with Aftermath of White Collar Crime: https://www.fbi.gov/resources/victim-services/coping-with-victimization

My Copyright Litigation Story / CR Resources for You

My Copyright Litigation Story