By Christine Garcia
Counterfeit and pirated books on Amazon’s website are an issue. Regardless of complaints from angry customers and authors, Amazon’s unethical piracy practices continue to fuel Jeff Bezos’s 200 billion dollar net worth.
The act of counterfeiting books is the illegal replication of products and someone else’s work. Most of the fraudulent books on Amazon come from third-party sources. However, Amazon is secured under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a federal law that dictates the limitations of Amazon’s responsibility when it comes to copyright violations on its website as long as the website removes copyrighted content.
According to ISBNDB, imitated books appear to be of lower quality than the original copies. Signs of a knock-off include uneven paper lengths, miscopies and low-grade cover. As a result, some consumers have complaints about books with visible deficiencies.
Amazon’s policies and actions
Amazon launched its Project Zero anti-counterfeit program, which allows business owners and brands to report the copyright infringement of their products.
Regardless of the preventative measures, many authors such as Kara Swisher, revealed to the Washington Post that Amazon sold a “biography” of her life story, that appeared to be created by artificial intelligence. In addition, writer Jane Friedman shared her story when she discovered books sold under her name. Friedman reveals that Amazon refused to remove the books from sale after she did not have a trademark for her name. Lastly, in a feature from The Atlantic, A.J. Jacobs writes about an experience reading Amazon novels. Jacob discovers that some of America’s favorite classics were ‘adjusted’.
Not only is counterfeiting novels unethical, but it is also taking away possible profits from the author. In addition, counterfeit novels are notorious for their terrible quality, so fraudulent sales may tarnish the reputation of the author and devalue their work.
“My estimate is that approximately 15 to 25 percent of our sales were taken away by counterfeiting,” Scott Kelly, author and Vice President of Antimicrobial Therapy, said.
Amazon aims to restore trust in its marketplace by implementing procedures to manage, detect and disrupt counterfeit products.
“Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) works with brands, law enforcement and customers across the globe to stop bad actors and hold them accountable,” Amazon said.
Friedman advises authors to communicate counterfeit issues with a publisher or the Author’s Guild. Ultimately, the only way to win the fight against Amazon is through efforts from the stakeholders, readers and a public platform.
