Hi, I wrote a book in 2007 and self published using a company on the understanding that I would retain the copyright but they would arrange for it to be sold on Amazon and through other sites including their own. Any copies sold by them would earn me royalties, and I received a few small payments from them over the following two years. I have not heard from them since and they do not answer letters or emails.
I have since found that my book is still being offered for sale by several sellers on eBay and on Amazon, and several internet companies in the USA, Australia and even India. One company states on eBay that they own the copyright - which they clearly do not. I have pointed this out to them but I don't get a reply. I contacted a publisher in the USA last year as they too stated that they owned the copyright, but again I was ignored - what can I do about this? I have not received any royalties. The book is still being offered on Amazon and I contacted them but they said it is nothing to do with them. Please can anyone help?
Well, from what you have said so far Madeleine, something definitely sounds wrong, but I think the best course of action right now is to contact a solicitor's office as they can probably advise you better on such matters and how it would be best to proceed.
I don’t know if there is a government department that can help on such cases, but since you have a contract, you will definitely need a solicitor to look into the matter. They usually can get answers from companies when others cannot.
I hope it gets sorted out quickly and you receive any royalties owed to you. It is terrible to see your work being sold, not to mention that they are under the impression they own the copyrights. I would be furious if anyone said they owned the copyrights of my work without my consent.
Thank you all for your replies.
I live in Wales and will find out about legal advice.
I emailed the company whose name is on the bottom of the eBay sellers' pages and had a response last night saying that the copyright notice applies only to the 'Bibliographic Data' and not the contents of the book itself. I don't understand what this means. He also said that the sellers are obtaining the books from a 'legitimate scource'. I replied that there is no legitimate scource other than myself and am awaiting a reply to that.
The company that printed the book was later taken to court by several of its writers but is still in existance at the same address, and still offering to publish books but a statement on their website says they are the new owners and nothing to do with the old proprietor. I find this hard to accept as they return all emails and ignore all letters, and no longer publish a list of the books they have for sale. They seems to have a parent company in the USA who may be selling the writers' books worldwide without paying royalties. I fear it would be very expensive to challenge such a company, but I find it hard to accept that they are getting away with it. Thanks again everyone who answered.
I'm sorry to hear of your plight. I hope you get it sorted out soon.