Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
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This is also why creating a "contact me" email address, that's EASY to find, whether on Smashwords, Amazon, inside the books, etc., is important. Cromag, did you already have this? Did the YT guy use that email address, or even GLANCE at it, to ensure he was receiving email from the actual author? I try to get our clients to put a specific, only-for-rights/copyrights issues email addy on their copyright page, if naught else, just for this reason.
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The onus isn't actually on the author to prove that s/he is who s/he says s/he is, in this type of case; it's on the unauthorized user. In a court case, each side would have to pony up their due diligence, and while you don't have to do diligence to prove you're you, the guy with the YT site certainly should have done more diligence to prove that the guy from whom he bought the rights (how much DID you get swindled out of, anyway??? If the bogus you got paid?), was indeed you. I'd also note that if Bogus Guy really exists, the payment can be TRACED, and he could be prosecuted, because while copyright infringement carries worthless penalties under criminal law, (and civil, for that matter), identity theft has REAL teeth. (Just an idea. If it were me, I'd chase him like the Hounds of Hell were on his heels.)
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I did not have a way for strangers to contact me. I admit that I didn't foresee this sort of thing, which is one of the reasons I started this thread up -- a reminder that if it can happen to me ...
I have since started an "author's page" at Facebook and I reference it at Smashwords, Goodreads, etc. I'll be including it in future work, and editing my existing stories to include it shortly.
I have also opened a new mail account at Gmail. Right now I use it as a way to contact publishers, etc. I specifically opened it for this case.
I didn't specifically ask, but I
do not believe that whoever impersonated me was paid -- the website's published terms exclude payment. I think I may have had them over a barrel because they had already invested in the production, but any payment I could have gotten would have been a token payment, and, as it stands now, we're on good terms.