QUESTION

What can I do about someone who is offering a book I wrote as a free download on his website without my permission?

Asked on Jul 25th, 2011 on Intellectual Property - Indiana
More details to this question:
I wrote a book that is a supplement for a game. I published and have made the book available via Lulu.com, an online publishing, print-on-demand company. Someone bought a copy of my book and now offers a text-only version as a free download on his website (after having made some minor alterations). I do not want him do this. Other authors' works are also offered for free on this person's website without their permission. We have asked him to stop, but he refuses. What recourses do we have?
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1 ANSWER

Business Law Attorney serving Cincinnati, OH at Cors & Bassett, LLC
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A person owns the copyright in a book the person writes, so that person has the right to permit others to copy the book, or not to permit them to copy it.  (However, the author may give up some of his/her rights to restrict copying or restrict re-publishing of his/her book in a publishing contract such as the one you signed with Lulu.com,  so in your case you should check your contract and listing with Lulu.com to determine whether Lulu.com has the right to give permission for this other person to reprint your book.) If you did not authorize or give permission to the other person to offer your book as a free download on his website, then you have the right to sue him for copyright infringement. You will need to hire an attorney to sue him in federal court for copyright infringement and obtain an order to force him to take down your book.  Also, you can notify his website host and tell the host that he is violating your copyright and they should take down your material from his website or take down his website entirely for copyright violations. I am an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio and I am not licensed to practice law in the State of Indiana.  This answer is given for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice specific to your situation.
Answered on Sep 15th, 2011 at 2:07 PM

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