Laura J. Davis

On Friday night, I was writing up several reviews for books that are going to be featured at Interviews & Reviews (speaking of which, if you have a book coming out in 2010 and you would like to be featured at I & R, please contact me soon. If this year is any indication, then next year will be full before October!). Anyway, I googled one of the books I was reviewing, only to find out that almost the entire book was available to read online at Google Books. Surprised that the publisher would allow such a thing (the ending of the book was even included!) I googled my own book and lo and behold there my book was from cover to cover with only one chapter missing! Just like the book I had googled, the ending of my book was also included. I was not pleased.  In fact, I'm pretty sure my blood pressure went through the roof! Google had illegally copied my book and made it available online. Did I give them permission? No!

I didn't know what to do, but I recalled that Google had a class action lawsuit against them for just this very thing, which apparently has already been settled. I filled out a form here and waited to see what would happen. In the meantime, I contacted Lulu (my publisher), because I noticed that they had given Google permission to reprint my book. They had no right to do that, as I own the copyright. They responded to me by saying I had given them permission. By now, my blood was boiling. So, I went on the forums of Lulu to voice my objections. It's amazing what the words copyright infringement, illegal and lawyer will do when you want to get something done! I'm also amazed at how many of my comments were actually deleted from the forums, just because of those words!

Within 3 hours all but 48 pages of my book were gone! In fact, while I was looking at the last page of my book, it disappeared! I still think that 48 pages is far too much for a preview, but when looking at the other books that Google has illegally copied I guess I can't complain.

So, my dear writer friends - check your books! They could be available online for free at Google Books. Oh, and don't be fooled by the first page, where all you see are public domain books. Make sure you actually put your title in the search bar.