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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Do You Own Your Reviews?

I have had it! I am done with posting reviews on Amazon. I am sorry to the authors that will be effected by my decision but until Amazon treats reviewers with some respect and dignity, I will no longer post my reviews there. I will now only do star ratings on Amazon. You won't find my thoughts on the book on Amazon but at least the authors will get recognition. (Thanks to Viv Arend for pointing this out!)

Imagine my surprise when I get a Google Alert* directing me to Book Super Sales and I see MY review on their site. I did not post my review on that site nor did I give them permission to post my review.

This site STOLE my review from Amazon (without MY permission) and pasted it verbatim on their site to make it look like I commented on their post with my review! Now that's low. And you want to know what's lower than low? They linked my comment to Amazon, using THEIR Amazon affiliate link!! So not only does MY review get stolen without any credit to me, they are making money from doing so!

I posted an actual comment on this site asking them to remove my review. It's no surprise that (1) my review is still there and (2) as you might have guessed they moderate comments so my real comment is not showing up on their site. I posted my comment on May 12 and it's still shows as "awaiting moderation".

And what does Amazon have to say about this? Well, they pretty much allow it. It's in their Terms of Service. Yeah, shocking, isn't it?

Here's what I wrote to Amazon:
It has been brought to my attention that someone has copied my review of Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber from Amazon and pasted it on their site under "Responses to Hannah's List" (i.e. as a comment). I did not post the comment nor did I give anyone permission to use my review. I have posted a "response" asking that my review be removed from the site. It appears to be some sort of book selling site, with links to Amazon. This leads me to believe that the links they are using directs people to Amazon and possibly giving them some sort of payment.

Here is the link to the Hannah's List page and the comments: http://www.booksupersales.com/hannahs-list/

And here's the response I got from Amazon Customer Service Representative Mike M.: 
We can appreciate your concerns; however, when you post content to the Amazon.com site, you grant Amazon a right to distribute that content, and to use the name that you submit in connection with your content.  For more details, please refer to the Conditions of Use page found here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=508088

If you would rather any or all of your reviews not appear outside of Amazon.com, the best solution would be to delete them via Your Profile. To find your Profile, click "Your Amazon.com" at the top of any Amazon.com page and then click the "Your Profile" link in the blue navigation bar.  On Your Profile, you'll find a list of your reviews as well as other community content you've provided. Under the list of reviews, click "See all reviews." You'll then see a list of your reviews and "Edit review" and "Delete review" options. Clicking the "Delete review" button will take you to a confirmation page.  Clicking "yes" on the confirmation page will delete the review. Your review should be deleted from the website shortly.

At the bottom of the email they ask if this has solved my problem and you are given the option to click on the YES link or the NO link. Guess which link I clicked on.

I clicked on the NO link and wrote:
So you're basically saying that it's okay for www.booksupersales.com to steal my review from your site, put it on their site to look like I left my review in a comment (which I didn't)?!! And your site allows them to make commissions from the Amazon Associates program with the help from MY review?!!

And a different Amazon Customer Service Representative, Jeff G., replied:
As you mentioned, it is true that we allow members of our Associates program to display Customer Reviews that were submitted on Amazon.com and Associates do earn a commission for any Amazon.com sales that result from them referring a customer to our site.

The Associates web sites should be displaying Amazon reviews as Customer Reviews, so I have brought this particular web site to the attention of the Associates Team.  If this violates their guidelines, they will follow up directly with that site to make sure the information they display follows the appropriate guidelines.

As my colleague, Mike, previously mentioned, you always have the option to delete your reviews by visiting your Profile.  Once the reviews are deleted they should no longer appear on external web sites within a few weeks, as the Associates sites receive a regularly-scheduled feed from Amazon.

I'm very sorry for any disappointment or frustration this situation caused.  Unfortunately, we aren't able to provide any further insight or action on this matter.


Sorry, Jeff, but "sorry" doesn't cut it.

So there you have it. Not one, but two Amazon Customer Service Representatives not only suggested but pretty much encouraged me to remove my reviews. I guess you get your wish Amazon because that's exactly what I'm going to do. 

I'm not even going to even waste my time with another response. Besides, actions speak louder than words, right? And then there's always word of mouth. 

So what does this all mean? What am I going to do? 

For starters, I am going to delete all my reviews that I've posted on Amazon and I will cease from writing any more reviews on there. I put a lot of work and thought into my reviews. I will admit, it's a bit of a challenge for me to articulate my thoughts into words. So for someone to STEAL my reviews and use as a means of making commission is a low blow. 

I'm not going to completely boycott Amazon but I will look to other venues, such as Barnes & Noble and The Book Depository, to purchase my books. If Amazon is going to let someone STEAL my reviews and let them make a profit, then I'm not going to give my business to Amazon.

I will continue to post my reviews on Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, Goodreads and LibraryThing unless I find out that they're on the same ship as Amazon.

I was originally going to post about this back when it had just happened, about 2 weeks ago. But I had cooled down and decided to leave it alone. Then, just today, I got a Google Alert directing me HERE. I can't seem to find my review on this book but I did see a review from a fellow book blogger. And it looks like they swiped her review right from Amazon.

I have never read Terms of Service on these sites and that's my fault. Shame on me for not reading them and for not knowing what I was getting myself into.

So my question to you is this, what are our rights as book reviewers? Do we "own" our reviews when we post them on sites like Amazon, B&N, Goodreads and LibraryThing? I still consider myself *new* to the world of book blogging and book reviewing so I would appreciate any insight you have on the matter. I want to know what you think.


*If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend that you sign up for a Google Alert for you and your blog. You can see if something like this is happening to you. Or on a lighter note, you can also find out if you won a contest. Either way, you definitely need to sign up. 

**I don't usually use my blog as a platform to express my personal vents and frustrations but this issue was really getting to me and I had to let it out.
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76 People had something to say:

  1. Pretty sleazy practice these sites are doing. Too bad Amazon allows it as well.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow thanks for letting us know. I will seriously consider removing my reviews.
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  3. Oh I had no idea. I do not post often on Amazon. I do not mind if someone asks me to use my like but to just take my review, that is not right. Those are my thoughts, feelings and words. Great post, thank you again.
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  4. As an author I get google alerts and have seen these double linked reviews and it's been confusing me a great deal. Thanks for an explanation, although the reason you found out is a PITA. I'm sorry to hear this is happening.

    In my opinion? You own your review. What they are allowing to happen is wrong. If they ask, and you agree, that's a different matter.

    One thing I could suggest is to still post your rating of a book using the star system and nothing else. It's an option if you still want to share some information.
    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! I'm so sorry this happens to you, it is NOT fut to be blatantly copied like that. I can't believe they encourage this type of thing. Thank you for letting the rest of us know. I have been considering posting my reviews to amazon, but I'm going to hold off now.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Viv - that is an excellent suggestion!! I will do just that; I will give books I read a *star* rating and just that.

    Now why didn't I think of that....
    ReplyDelete
  7. i recently started posting my reviews on amazon and this is scary! yes, i think our reviews belong to us and this shouldn't be allowed. thanks for sharing and making us more aware of this.
    ReplyDelete
  8. There is a review for Nick Dienst's book, Jen, on Amazon.com from someone that isn't me (although they do give me credit in the title bar). I think that taking the words of someone else and attempting to pass them off as your own is pretty crappy. I'd heard about this before but didn't realize how far the problem extended.

    Another thing that sucks is if reviewers continue to be turned off and stop reviewing, authors will take a hit as the number of reviews impacts how prominently Amazon advertises it (I'm not the expert on this, I was told that when you hit 25 your exposure goes up).

    Either way, sorry this has happened to you. I can understand your frustration and anger.
    ReplyDelete
  9. I think they probably get around the "stealing" idea b/c they are giving you credit for being the author of the review and aren't trying to say they wrote it. However, that's getting a little too close in my opinion. They should never allow people to profit from other people's reviews without having obtained permission from the author to do so (and yes, I realize they technically have it b/c you agreed to the terms of agreement but it's all shady to me).
    I agree on the idea of using a star rating and leaving your detailed reviews for your blog or other sites that you trust. I also agree that it's not practical to boycott Amazon, but they have a few shady practices that they really need to sort out.
    *hugs* I'm sorry this happened to you and I'm sorry that they gave you such a douchey and rote reply to a genuine concern on your part.
    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm sorry that you are upset and frustrated about this BV :( I personally don't care too much, but I am probably in the minority. I do assume when i post to Amazon that I am giving them permission to use my text how they see fit - same applies to most message boards.
    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi,

    Now don't take me wrong here, I see where your coming from, and it was a bit naughty for them to make it look like a comment rather than a review, But...

    All major affiliate programs allow there sellers to utilise there selling resources, and as much as you may not like this, that is what reviews are.

    Also I don't understand why you (and it seems a lot of other people) are really hacked of at the idea of a smaller company, many of them set up by genuine book fans, and a fair few of them that work more closely with authors than the big companies do, "using your reviews to help them earn money", when you have no problem at all with the big company's, that authors almost never hear from, using them in exactly the same way.
    ReplyDelete
  12. Tsk, so not ok! Now I am so very unsure how to deal with amazon after this
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  13. Oh my! I had no idea this was happening. I thought my reviews were my intellectual property. I was going to go on Amazon and update today but now I shall do it on Waterstones instead. Amazon should not let this happen.
    ReplyDelete
  14. I've only been blogging a couple of months and was considering posting my reviews to Amazon but certainly will not be now. Thanks so much for bringing this up. I'm interested to find out more about copyright issues and my reviews and shall be looking into it more carefully from now on.
    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, that's so not ok. I also publish my reviews on amazon but have to think about it again.

    Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I also signed up for Google Alert.
    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, that's pretty low and sad thing to do.I have posted some of my reviews on Amazon.co.uk because I live in Europe, but english Amazon's terms of service are completely different from the american.But I still have to check it out.Thanks for the heads up and bravo for standing up to them.They behaved in a cowardly manner and were disrespectful to their customers.
    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh, wow, I can't believe it! It doesn't seem like they care less about the rights of their reviewers (and, yes, I'm definitely on the "Do NOT use my review without my permission, especially not to make money, kthxbai." camp) ... they seem to have a policy of if the reviewer is unhappy, tough, there's thousands more out there. And to actually tell you that you can solve your problems by deleting your reviews off their site, wow, nice. So much appreciation for the work you've put into it.
    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi BookVixen! Someone started a website and stole every single post I ever wrote, and published it on her site. With photos and everything! (She did this to me and 2 other bloggers)--we sent her messages through the comments area asking her to stop and eventually she did. (At this point I copyrighted my web site!).

    How about if you do a star review, and then in the comments section at Amazon, say....For a more detailed review, please visit this site.....Will Amazon let you do that?

    I think you should get onto the romance boards at Amazon and let people know this is happening. This is a big deal.
    ReplyDelete
  19. I am another new blogger, I've only been at this for 5 months now so I know how you feel. I feel that their policy of allowing plagiarism is so WRONG in so many ways! I mean weren't we all taught form basically kindergarten that copying another person's work is morally incorrect? And we all work so hard at articulating how each book makes us feel and our own opinions on that book, and now AMAZON is making money off that? It's dirty and WRONG!!!

    I'd be asking "Since it was basically MY REVIEW that helped to sell the book through your site, where's my percentage of the sales?"
    ReplyDelete
  20. That sucks. Glad I don't post my reviews on Amazon. I'll be sure (as we all should) to take a closer look at their terms of use, etc. If sites allow something like this I won't be posting my reviews there that's for sure!!!!
    ReplyDelete
  21. Lily Oak,

    I appreciate you speaking your mind, especially when you have a different prospective! But I have to disagree with you :)

    It's not "a bit naughty", it's down right plagiarism! Taking my review, verbatim, and posting it on your site or blog to make money for yourself is not only wrong but it is also unethical.

    I'm not sure if you clicked on the two links (the plagiarists) to have a look at their site. From your comment it sounds like you did not. But please, click on the link and see for yourself. This site and this blog were set up for the sole means of making money by stealing other people's reviews. All they do is copy and paste. They c&p the book description, along with other people's review, and LOTS of Amazon links using their Amazon Affiliate link to earn commission. You can't even comment on their site - well you can but they moderate so your comment will never make it up on their site.

    These site are not genuine book fans. They are money-hungry bastards. I do not see that these sites are working with authors, or anyone else for that matter.
    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh my goodness, I am so paranoid right now! I hadn't thought too much about people pulling my reviews for affiliate sites, but reading about your experience has definitely made me become proactive in making sure that my words are being used as a I intended. I've signed up for Google Alerts and it's already come up with links to a couple of my posts on another site. THANK YOU for pointing out this issue to book bloggers and helping us all make sure our words are protected. Would you be ok if I mentioned this issue and linked to your article on my blog?
    ReplyDelete
  23. Uh! It is so frustrating to have your stuff taken. I've been blogging for a while, and I can't even bear to look at it when somebody steals my stuff. Like, what a way to ruin a day. And you feel so powerless.

    However, it is true that it helps authors to post your reviews on Amazon. Also, it helps authors even more when somebody who takes a lot of care in their reviews does so, as it really helps to educate readers who aren't savvy enough to find a blog. (I'm speaking here as an author now. I guess I wear both hats, as I was a book blogger first)

    However, one thought is that you might consider when posting Amazon reviews, is to put a link to your blog inside the review. Frex, "I've reviewed 5 fae books at my book blog, www.thebookvixen.com and I've never seen one that has vampires who juggle..." I don't know if Amazon would let you do that, but then when anyone steals and posts your review, they are giving you free advertising. As is Amazon. And you would be helpign the scraper site readers figure out that the review was stolen. Just a suggestion. Super frustrating, though, I know.
    ReplyDelete
  24. Dana - I have emailed you :)

    Carolyn - From what I've heard, you can not link in your Amazon review :(
    ReplyDelete
  25. That's right, can't link from amazon reviews. I tried to include a link to my Spirit Bound discussion post in my review (bcuz my review was spoilers free, and the discussion gave juicy details!) but the link doesn't show up, there (...) instead.

    I still haven't made up my mind, keep or remove my reviews. I know how important to authors and publishers those reviews are, but at the expense of my rights? don't know =/
    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow. I probably shouldn't be surprised, given the stuff I've been reading about Amazon lately. On the one hand, I would appreciate the publicity for my blog, but that's an abuse of power. There should really be some sort of red tape, such as being required to ask the reviewer to "borrow" their review, disabling copy & paste, etc. I think part of this is just laziness and denying responsibility on the part of Amazon. Such a shame. I was shooting to get into the Amazon Vine Program, but now I'm not so sure that's a good idea.
    ReplyDelete
  27. Hmm I didn't know they could do this either. I haven't read the turns either but I don't see how they would think this would be ok. They can't steal words from an author what makes them think they can take from a reviewer?



    Stephanie G
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  28. jacobsbeloved - There is no publicity for my blog. The links the thieves use direct people to Amazon using their affiliate links. So I get absolutely nothing :(
    ReplyDelete
  29. Stephanie G. - Amazon said they can do it.

    Tsk Tsk Amazon.
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  30. I did not know that Amazon done this. This is totally wrong. Some of us Book Bloggers use Amazon associates as a way to make a bit of money for our blog..we don't put our reviews up for other associates to take our content and use it to make their own money. I don't normally buy much from Amazon.com and I still won't. I must more prefer B&N and Book Depository and will continue using that avenue.

    Thanks for letting us know about that because I will no longer put my reviews up either.
    ReplyDelete
  31. When using sites with stinky TOS guidelines, you might think about just posting a review SYNOPSIS on them, because lets face it. Those reviews help the author and amazon.com is the major player in the game. So good reviews on amazon.com are going to reach a bigger audience.

    I think Amazon is doing a run around, because they really can't be held liable for people that steal content from their site. If they could be held liable they would be policing constantly.

    Hopefully in the future they will have watch lists like EBAY does for their resellers, for this associates program, so complaints filed will get marks against them, etc.

    I'm sorry you are frustrated with this, it is very sleazy. It seems to be a sleazy week for reviewers and authors. Between a few authors having their stuff pirated, to myself having found someone is ripping off my design, to this review stealing...etc. I'm officially calling this copyright infringement week. LOL
    ReplyDelete
  32. I've begun buying from http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

    you get books and they fund literacy programs...Win-Win!!!

    BTW - I can't believe you got a response from Amazon - I have been trynig to get a question answered for a month now!
    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow! I had no idea that could happen. Thanks so much for making us all aware of it. It's sad that our words can just be taken without any consideration to the reviewer.

    I am signing up for Google Alerts right now.

    Jessica
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  34. OMIGOSH. this thing called plaigerism.... i say all reviewers boycott amazon. that's it for me, too.
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  35. Wow! I had no idea. I was just about to take a day or two this summer and put reviews on amazon - good thing you found out about this. How horrible...
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  36. I have no idea of what happened to my first response to this:

    I guess I need the TOS of amazon better and the fact that they allow 3rd parties to take reviews with out consent is wrong.

    Its called stealing and this doesn't make me happy with amazon at all.

    I do have google alerts already.
    ReplyDelete
  37. What wow! I had no idea. I can't believe they stole it.
    Yowzers.
    I don't post my reviews on Amazon but I sincerely appreciate the heads up and cautionary note. Thanks for having our backs chica. :)
    ReplyDelete
  38. Parajunkee - Granted, it's not Amazon's fault that these 3rd party sites are copying other people's review. But I, for one, would expect Amazon to cut off the commissions that they made due to their plagiarism. Instead, Amazon built a clause in their ToS to allow this to happen and this isn't right. Amazon is a HUGE corporation. I would like to see them make a difference and do that right thing for their consumers.

    For now, I'm going to rate books using Amazon's star rating system and that's it. Until Amazon changes their ToS to protect the reviewers, I'm not going to post any of my thoughts on there just to be stolen and used for profit.

    I am very sorry to hear that someone ripped off one of your designs. I really hope you get the bastard!

    A Fly on the Wall - I'll give Amazon credit; they replied within 24 hours to both of my queries. Not with what I wanted to hear but they did reply in a timely matter.
    ReplyDelete
  39. This is icky. Now that I have read all of this, makes me very selective about what I right.

    However, I hate to tell everyone on here that says that they will use Barnes and Noble instead that B&N has the same thing in it's TOS. I just went and read it and confirmed. I guess none of us are safe.

    I don't mind someone quoting me and my opinion but using it as if I said it for them without acknowledging where they got it from like "As DL said on Amazon.com's website..." or whatever. But wow. I don't know, people do the strangest things. I'd say don't boycott the book company, use our word of mouth to nail the stupid bastards that are using it wrongly. If they can't admit to their wrongdoings, then they are the ones that should do without the commissions.

    I don't know...the things people will do to make a quick buck...
    ReplyDelete
  40. Dragonlady - I was afraid of that - BN allowing the same thing to happen.

    Guess I'll just do the star ratings everywhere and direct people to my blog to read my actual thoughts on the book.

    It's very sad that it's come to this.
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  41. Is there any way to block them from copy and pasting?

    I am a little surprised Yet not surprised enough. Nothing is really safe any more from theft.

    What we need to do is figure a way to protect ourselves from things like this happening.I understand everyone is out to make money. I hold no grudge against those smaller and larger companies from doing so I do however hope there is way to prevent the theft that come along with it. If they gave credit some how I dont think this would have been such a big deal
    ReplyDelete
  42. I think the really message here is if you do not want your work, whether it be reviews or any other form of writig, to be used by third parties, then you really need to read terms of service BEFORE you post anything, to see whether or not they operate on a shared copyright basis. The only place I post reviews, blog posts and other writing are on sites that allow me the put links in back to my site and the authors site. Most sites now do operate a shared copyright policy on anything posted on them. At least Amazon will remove the content at your request, a lot of sites will not. And they are fully within their rights not to, as when you posted you agreed to their TOS which stipulate that you now SHARE copyright of your work with them.
    ReplyDelete
  43. I tried to find if there's something similar with Goodreads since I post all my reviews there, but I couldn't find any infos. Anyone knows?
    ReplyDelete
  44. Cleverly Inked - You cannot block any C&Ping from Amazon's website. Especially since they allow this.

    Lily Oak - I agree with you that we need to read the ToS before posting anything. And I should have done that. But honestly, in my opinion, those ToS are written to dissuade you from reading them. They are usually very lengthy and in legal jargon that I don't even know what the heck they are even saying.

    I do like that you choose to post your reviews where you can link to your blog. I think that's the road I'm heading for...
    ReplyDelete
  45. Tynga - I'm not sure but I'd definitely like to know too! As I mentioned in my reply to Lily Oak, I am not good at reading ToS. They are not written in a friendly, easy to understand way.

    I think the only safe measure to take is to rate the book using the site's star rating and link back to your blog for your in-depth review. I know Goodreads allow you to link to your blog...

    Now I'm contemplating on whether or not to remove all my reviews from all sites....

    *sighs*
    ReplyDelete
  46. I'm not sure what you expect here. Amazon is a PUBLIC site. Your reviews are posted in PUBLIC forums. Not sure why you seem to think they belong solely to Amazon. Or you. That is the double edged sword of social media. You run a blog, you should know that. Someone could take any one of these comments and cross post it on their blog etc.. if it is published for anyone to read or view on the Internet, voluntarily, then you really don't have any claim to how it's used.

    Sad, and I don't like it either, but that's the way of it.
    ReplyDelete
  47. Wow, that just doesn't seem right! I'm sorry to hear.
    ReplyDelete
  48. Hm....removing my reviews too. Screw that!I am sorry this is happening to you.

    I think reviews should be considered intellectual property. I thought of the words I am going to use, they came from my brain.
    ReplyDelete
  49. readerofbooks - Hmm, I wonder if you would feel the same if it were one of your reviews that was being used to make money for a 3rd party site...

    I don't know who you are (book reader, book reviewer/blogger, an author or none of the above) but that's called plagiarism. It doesn't matter if I post my reviews on a public site, whether it be my personal blog or Amazon; my thoughts and words are not for the taking. As naive as it sounds, I originally thought my reviews belonged to ME. Obviously, that is not the case when I post a review on Amazon.

    In my opinion, that's not the way of it. If we continue to let this happen without speaking out about it then yeah, it would be. But I'm not going to take this sitting down. I may be a little peon to Amazon but this peon has a BIG mouth!
    ReplyDelete
  50. Moncia - I agree with you; our reviews are our intellectual property. It's a damn shame that sites like Amazon don't agree.
    ReplyDelete
  51. Honestly? I'd be more upset with the other site than Amazon. Mostly because it is false advertising to "borrow" someone else's view since you aren't directly supporting that site.

    As for Amazon? Eh. They have already screwed CO residents without cause. I can still advertise for them but I don't get one red cent. So, this behavior isn't a big thing to me. It's just Amazon being Amazon. As far as I'm concerned, I won't expect any help or support from them and I will not be disappointed. I will continue to post my reviews on Amazon since it helps authors.
    ReplyDelete
  52. I cant believe that happen to you. Its disrespectful. I believe its a good decision to no longer post your reviews at amazon.

    I wonder if that could happen with other websites as goodreads?

    Its definitely something any blogger you know, and be careful about it.
    ReplyDelete
  53. This is not actually plagiarism because they did attribute the review to you. If they had copied your review verbatim without identifying you as the author (or attributing it to someone else), then it's plagiarism.
    I think it's funny that when you click on the link for your name, it redirects you to the amazon purchase site! That takes a lot of chutzpah!
    ReplyDelete
  54. I will admit, I don't post a lot of reviews on Amazon. However, when I do, I don't post my full review. I'll give a small snippet (one or two conclusion sentences) and then tell them to go to LE for the rest. I know Amazon says we canNOT link to outside sources, but they haven't stopped me from telling people where to go. So even if one of my Amazon reviews does get swiped, they aren't getting much.

    So while this practice sucks, there are ways to take advantage of it. If they are simply pulling the reviews via an RSS feeds, change all of your reviews to small snippets with the last sentence telling them to read the full review at the Book Vixen. If they are going to take advantage of your reviews, why not take advantage of their audience. *grin*
    ReplyDelete
  55. I do what I believe Parajunkee suggested which is, I give my star review and then a very brief review.
    I do this for a couple reasons:
    1) I don't really think it makes sense to post an entire in-depth review on a seller site. Most customers are just looking for a brief explanation of it was good or not and honestly, I save my in depth discussion posts for my own site.
    2) For just such a reason as this. If it is taken and used, it's not as gut wrenching as it would be if it was the type of reviews I post on my blog.

    Just a thought.
    ReplyDelete
  56. Wow. Thanks for letting us know, and for doing the legwork by contacting everyone and sharing the info with us.
    ReplyDelete
  57. Ugh. That's awful. But I guess we can look on the bright side. Now the rest of us know, and I bet quite a few aren't going to be posting their reviews on Amazon any longer, which is going to hurt them, not us. Sorry you got jipped girl!
    ReplyDelete
  58. this is just nuts, thanks for letting us all know! I can't beleive how nonchalont the Amazon guys were - obviously not bloggers that know all the hard work that goes into writing them :(
    ReplyDelete
  59. GoodReads does share, BUT there is a check box in your account settings to opt out of it. Unfortunately it is opt out rather than opt in, but at least they are giving us options. I'm glad I've never reviewed on Amazon.
    ReplyDelete
  60. Melissa - CO as in Colorado? Are you talking about earning money through the affiliate program? If so, why would they not pay you because you're in CO?!!

    Penelope - I don't feel like they actually attributed the review to me. Yes, the did type in the comment as "The Book Vixen" but the hyperlink associated with TBV goes to the book on Amazon. Not to my website and not to my actual review on Amazon. So are they really giving me the credit I deserve? I say no.

    Jackie - I'm going to do what you do. You're one smart cookie!!

    The Queen B - That's what I'm going to start doing. I think I'll do that for all the sites I post reviews on. It's a real shame that we have to limit ourselves like this O_o
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  61. I just want to put this out there. The only person we're hurting by NOT posting reviews on Amazon (or any other offending site) is the author. I know that's not what we don't want to do. Like some have suggested (and this is what I'm going to start doing), rate the book using the site's star rating system and perhaps type in a few short sentences, referring back to your blog/site for an in-depth review.

    I want Amazon to suffer. Yes, I know it's not entirely their fault but they condone it! It's a lot easier for me to dissuade people from buying from Amazon than it would be for me to shut down these 3rd party sites. So I will begin to remove ALL Amazon links from my blog. I'm certainly not going to send business their way when this is how they treat us.
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  62. Have you looked into the Book Depository's affiliate program yet? I just started using it this month, so I'm not entirely sure about it, but it's free shipping world wide, so I'm thinking it'll be a little nicer.
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  63. Thats Fucked up!! Im glad I dont post my reviews there!

    so sorry you're going through that hon!
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  64. That is *so* weird! Thanks for posting this.
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  65. Jackie - Actually, I just recently signed up for the Book Depo affiliate program, about 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen any revenue from it yet LOL But we'll see what happens.
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  66. wow glad I never put up reviews for Amazon I always wondered if people could "steal" content from hard workers, well I guess I have my answer I am so sorry this is happening to you. Glad you were able to delete your reviews and that they didn't lock you out so to speak.
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  67. This is a loss for authors as well. Is there a chance you would consider adding one or two lines from your review to accompany the star rating on amazon? You can add at the end that the full review is on your website.
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  68. Thanks for posting. That is a damn shame! Really disappointing. How dare that other site steal your work. Shame Amazon's terms are as they are. I won't be posting any reviews now!
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  69. Tarra - You're right, this is only hurting the authors and it's not what I want to do. I think I will take your advise and include a couple of sentences in my Amazon reviews :)
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  70. Hi, sorry I'm late jumping back into this lol but it's worth noting that even if you post something in a public place, you still own the copyright -(even if it's not marked as copyrighted but we're getting into all sorts of legal grey areas)- the only time someone else may copy or distribute your work is when you tick a bo to agree they can.

    If you are only posting on you own blog, add a small copyright notice to the bottom.

    If you are posting on seller, review sites, the TOS's can be a nightmare, so sign up but before posting drop their customer services a short email asking if by posting on their site it means they get 'shared copyright' and if they allow third parties or affiliates to copy, export or auto feed content from there site.

    When you get a nice plain english, save the email, and if you are happy with terms post away. If there are any issues in the future, forward them a copy of the email you received entitled, 'as previously agreed by authories representative of your company'

    sorry to ramble but I hope that helps lol

    Lily
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  71. Wow,thanks for bringing this to my attention. I think I like the idea of a few sentences and then refer to out blog. I definitely won't be putting on any more full reviews. Sorry this happened to you!
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  72. I used Google Alert and I found that quite a few of my reviews (5-6) were used by this kind of website. My Spirit Bound review was used by like 5 of them and I wrote to one of those websites (they posted my review of Faery Rebel) and the onwer nicely asnwered me.
    Those website don't "steal" our reviews, they are posted by default by amazon themselves.
    The affiliate I talked to explained me that they don't have any say in which review amazon add to their content.

    Now what can we do?
    Well you can delete all your review like they said, or write partial reviews.
    I haven't set my mind on what I'm gonna do yet, but for now I changed my amazon account name to Tynga's Reviews, so everywhere my reviews appears, they are credited to Tynga's Reviews.
    Even thought there is no link to my blog, readers could still google my name and find my blog.
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  73. ojh hell.. I am very late in reading this. what a bunch of d-bags. This is really sad. We work hard for our reviews just to find out that Amazon (shame on them!) allows plagiarism.
    Grrrr...
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  74. WOW!!! This is terrible..I'm really sorry this happen to you...
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  75. Because of my marketing background, I think what Amazon is doing is pretty much the norm (even with all the undesirable outcomes that might entail). You do have a right to copyright anything you put on your personal blog (because you own all the rights there).

    As an author - when a blogger writes a review about me - I provide a direct link to the posting (as I have linked to those who write reviews on Good Reads). It's just common decency to give credit to the author of any blog, comment or review. Hopefully they had the decency to keep all attributions for who wrote or contributed to the review intact.
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  76. Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention! I've never much liked Amazon's business practices anyway, so this is just the straw that broke the camel's back.

    I have a question -- what Google Alert do you use to track who's using your reviews? A line from the review? Or just "The Book Vixen"?
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