And now... scams by self-pub authors [ Edited ]

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

It's time to start paying close attention when buying an e-book. The lure of free self-publishing has begun to attract "the wrong element."

B&N has had to pull a PubIt! e-book entitled SpellBound Cafe because the author was listed as "Nora A. Roberts". That e-book had reached best-seller status for self-pub titles, almost certainly on the basis of confusion about the authorship.

And then there's this:

Nora Roberts  

This is a self-pub by (if you look closely) G. G. Raleigh. The "Nora Roberts" here is part of the title, because that's the name of the main character.

Oh, and it's not just Nora Roberts who's being hijacked:

All The President's Friends  by James A. Patterson

Say, a James Patterson e-book for under $2? Not very likely, is it. What's that "A" doing in the author's name?

It turns out that both Nora A Roberts and James A Patterson were created by the same operation: Southern Pied Media. In an announcement (since removed from their site), they said, "We thought it would get peoples attention, but that readers would be intelligent enough to realize that Nora A Roberts is not the Nora Roberts."

@cyndyaleo has tweeted that Nora Roberts' real middle initial is $. I'm sure the same is true of James Patterson.

Thanks to GalleyCat and @EvilWylie for the heads-up.

[Sun_Cat]

This has to be a tricky area legally. In these cases there's a presumptive attempt to...well, to what, exactly? It isn't really fraud as I understand it. And you can't copyright your name. And you can use whatever pseudonym you want...or can you?

Obviously these cases involve intentional obfuscation and taking unearned commercial advantage of the names of successful authors. But I wonder what the legal justification is for pulling the title from the catalog. Does anyone know?

[Nevermore1]

I can't say anything for sure but I think it is possible to trademark a name but not copyright it.  I read an article that stated that a particular athlete's name was trademarked and he had issues getting the rights signed over to him when he left his management team.  Of course as I said I can't confirm it and you can't believe everything you read.  Maybe there is a copyright/trademark lawyer who reads the boards who can put in their 2 cents...

[javabird]

Thanks for pointing this out.

[keriflur]

I believe it does qualify as fraud if the intention is to deceive, which it obviously is. Proving that in a court of law is another matter entirely.

[Strayer]

You can trademark a name. Wow. I hate it when a self pubbed place tries to fool the readers.

[whiteginger]

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keriflur wrote:
I believe it does qualify as fraud if the intention is to deceive, which it obviously is. Proving that in a court of law is another matter entirely.

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Doug Pardee wrote:  

. . . In an announcement (since removed from their site), they said, "We thought it would get peoples attention, but that readers would be intelligent enough to realize that Nora A Roberts is not the Nora Roberts."

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       I wonder if  "lack of intelligence among the targeted audience"  is a valid defense in a fraud    case?

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Doug Pardee also wrote: 

@cyndyaleo has tweeted that Nora Roberts' real middle initial is $. I'm sure the same is true of James Patterson.

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        [Sigh] I often wish I shared that middle initial.  Wikipedia should amend its entries on these authors.

[Desert_Brat]

It's not just the names that are tricky. There's also been a rash of duplicate titles wherein a self-pub author titles his or her book the same as a popular author's book.

It's probably my faulty memory, but it seems to me there was a time when someone who wanted to publish a book also had to research the title. If the title was already published and fulfilled all the ISBN requirements, then the new author had to come up with a new title.

[kamas716]

I don't think titles can be copyrighted, just the works within.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html

[patgolfneb]

I call Moby Dyck!