Over the years I’ve discovered cases of copyright infringement by simply web searching for some of my legitimate licenses. Now I periodically Google myself and also check Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy to see what shows up. Each company has an intellectual property rights department that will help you resolve any issues you may find.
Some of these companies are easier to work with than others but I have found that if you persist, you will get the item resolved. Be the yappy dog if necessary!
Here are the links:
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201995100
Ebay https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing-and-marketing/verified-rights-owner-program.html
Etsy https://www.etsy.com/legal/ip/report
I realized I need to back up a bit. You have registered your work with the Library of Congress… right????
It’s true you hold the copyright when you create the work. However, unless you have registered your work with the U.S. Copyright Office you will not be eligible for statutory damages or legal fees.
If you have registered with the U.S Copyright Office prior to an infringement or within three months of the work’s publication, you are entitled to statutory damages that range from $750 to $30k per infringement. Additionally, if you can prove intentional infringement, the range is $30k to $150k per infringement.
So do two things, register your work with the copyright office and Google yourself and see what shows up. We work way too hard to have others steal our work.
I hope this never happens to you. But if it does and you have registered your work, you’ll be properly armed for battle. We work to hard to have people steal our work!
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