Plagiarism stopper?

[SisterWine]

I had a reader on another site alert me to a theft of my story, located here and two other sites. The reader told me that my fic was on Kindle, for sale, and I didn’t put it there. ALL three sites I have placed a copyright date on my original fics. Thankfully, Amazon saw it my way and removed my story. I don’t know if the thief is here or on either of the other two sites so I am hesitant to finish my other originals or any story. Is there a way to prevent someone from dl/copying a story on this site? If there isn’t, support team might want to work on that. Thank you.

[WillowDarkling]

First of all, I think this would get more staff attention if I move it to the General Staff Questions forum. But I won’t move it unless you want me to. 

We do not have a way to download the stories posted on our Archives (unlike at least one other fan fiction site, that I know of) but as far as I know (which is very little) there’s no way to prevent a copy/paste on stories. 

And I am sure that our head tech admin and our coder would love to implement something like that in the future. 

Willow Darkling, forum moderator. 

[SisterWine]

Certainly you may have my permission. I welcome any and all help and input. Thank you.

SW

[BronxWench]

The sad truth is that there is no way to prevent someone from copying a story. Other sites such as FanFiction.Net have tried various methods to prevent copying of stories but we’ve found stories posted here that were copied from that site. Archive Of Our Own provides download links, which certainly doesn’t help matters. We’ve been asked why WE don’t have those links, and the answer is that we don’t like plagiarists. 

What we can do here is remain vigilant. If you want to give me what information you have regarding the person who stole your story and sold it on Amazon, I can certainly look into whether they have an account here or not. You can email that to tos_team@adult-fanfiction.org, and I will investigate it promptly. 

[SisterWine]

Thank you. I'm not asking for an easy fix and I understand there is not much anyone can do. 

All I know of him is his name is Viktor ilchencko and the story was stolen Sept 18 of last year. Again, Amazon did remove it and some of his other works. I am asking you, wwomb and AO3, where I think he got it but I'm not sure.

Thank you.

SW

[Anesor]

I admit I do download stories I like. Not because I have the slightest interest in copying them, but to read/reread/group a series together. I have intermittent connection issues and computer issues, so reading them live can be a problem.  I can group stories into bookshelf folders for heat or tropes or themes or pairings. No site lets me set up indexed story lists in a convenient useful way.

That doesn’t even touch the sadness I feel when an author has pulled a story I loved for whatever reason and I can never reread it again… even if it was incomplete.  The first fanfic I really liked, I lost the bookmark and the author was ill and I only have faint memories over a dozen years old. A friend showed it to me so I don’t even know which site it was on. So I DL my favorites for later, like the worn paperbacks in my room.

I have plenty of my own ideas and no interest in being a plague.

[SisterWine]

I have been seriously thinking of pulling all of my fics but that would defeat my purpose of doing this for enjoyment. I am working on getting copyrights to my works but even then, the problem is still possible. I love my readers and their input but I am tired of being a statistic.

[BronxWench]

I’m not finding anything here on AFF for that name. It’s not surprising, since I’m assuming it was a false name used for the purpose of stealing other people’s work. However, if you find out anything more, please let me know. As a published author, I really, REALLY dislike thieves.

Pulling your work does feel like letting the bad guys win, at least to me. It’s ultimately your decision, of course, but I’m rooting for you to keep your stories up.

[SisterWine]

Thank you, BronxWench.

 

I will keep you apprised of what I find out. I really dont want to take them down but if worse comes to worse..... Thank you again.

[Guest I knew I wasn't the only o]

I, also, want to be able to read the stories I find, either repeatedly or on the go, when I have no internet access. 

[BronxWench]

3 hours ago, Guest I knew I wasn't the only o said:

I, also, want to be able to read the stories I find, either repeatedly or on the go, when I have no internet access. 

The majority of people are exactly like you. They want to be able to read and re-read at their convenience, and after recently spending five long days without any Internet access at all, I can sympathize. The sad truth is that the rotten apples do spoil the barrel, to use a tired metaphor. AFF is unlikely to include a download feature in the archive code. We won’t make it easier for anyone to steal our members’ work.