Authors: protect your copyrighted work from illegal downloads

Yesterday, after reading an article in Romance Writers Report about 4shared.com, a website that allows members to upload copyright protected works that aren't their own, I decided to check the site to see if any of my works were illegally posted there. And they were.

Read more about my battle with copyright infringement.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com/

Copyright infringement

A recent discussion on copyright infringement in a writers' group really piqued my interest in exploring the boundaries that some people cross, sometimes unwittingly, sometimes regardless of consequences or right or wrong. This is found in abundance on the Internet.

Some believe that if you copy and post someone else's work, you're showing them a huge honor.

Some believe that by doing so, you're actually helping that writer by giving them more exposure and more sales.

Some believe that if they don't profit from it, it isn't infringement.

I believe that all of these are disrespectful, untrue and very dangerous--not just to the person committing the infringement, but also to writers and others who rely on copyright laws to protect their work. Work they've slaved over. Work they've sacrificed time and often money for.

Read more on this at:

Copyright infringement: an act of honoring or theft?

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif
bestselling author & book marketing coach
http://www.cherylktardif.com