So I googled myself today and found this:
https://kisslibrary.net/book/4.....n=fnom&x=7021948

I wrote Humans Can Lick Too for an OWC here. It sucked so much that I asked Don to remove it. The storyline is the same, its just this writer has an inmate convict visit the girl and I had him as her boyfriend. But the dog s there, too.  I wonder if he stole actual words from my script. The book is on sale for 5.99. Would you care ifyou were me? I kind of want to let it go. Btw see if he adopted any of your scripts.

And, hey google yourselves, you may find something I guess. Besides nude pictures of you I mean.

That's fucked up, Kham. I'd be super pissed. Have you tried to contact the "author"?

You can find more of his publications at this link.

That's screwed up

That’s messed up.

Would be good to know if he paraphrased anything.

What I found on the author:

Author Drac Von Stoller is a horror/ghost fiction writer who has written 217 short stories from seven books titled "31 Horrifying Tales From The Dead" that have been downloaded over 1,201,571 times to date. Drac Von Stoller has 217 short stories in audio book format that has sold 2,372 copies.

I've seen this with all of my own stuff that was posted here. They get turned into ebooks and even sold in some cases. I'm pretty sure it will be the same for everybody. Not a lot you can do.

I just read a NYT article today about forgeries on Amazon. It's a huge problem. They're forging text books, best sellers, little things like this. They even steal your bio.

I got contacted a month ago by a podcaster wanting two of my old OWCs. My guess is a lot of you heard from him. I told him it was fine to use the scripts, I wasn't going to use them. All asked was proper attribution. No idea where he is in the project. At least he asked.

That sucks - I would deffo send him a message at the least

My name is far too common to Google, plus I doubt I've written anything yet that's worth stealing

Quoted from Matthew Taylor That sucks - I would deffo send him a message at the least My name is far too common to Google, plus I doubt I've written anything yet that's worth stealing

I've read stuff of yours at least worth borrowing!

Yes, I agree. It's pretty screwed but what can you do...

No, Zack, I made no contact with him. I may purchase the book later and see what its about. The script didnt do well at all, frankly I disposed of it so it was weird to see the same title and matching storyline. In mine parents leave and she stays with a dog who turns up to be a hero and kills the guy.

But I dont know, I dont think I'll be doing much about it. And looks like it happened to a lot of you. Wow.

Rene posted a useful link here on the thread. Check it out for your stories.

Quoted from Matthew Taylor That sucks - I would deffo send him a message at the least My name is far too common to Google, plus I doubt I've written anything yet that's worth stealing

I actually thought that he takes only mediocre stuff maybe if he went for that script. So maybe you wont find yours stolen after all lol.

Khamanna,

I don't know, here.  Here is the link to your script: https://web.archive.org/web/20......pdf  This was for the Feb 2015 OWC.  Your logline was: A girl received a chain letter telling her the way she's going to die a gruesome death in the next hour.

On the other hand, His preview show copyright 2013.  

His premise is:
It was Kathy's parent’s anniversary and they planned a weekend getaway leaving Kathy all alone with her dog. Kathy didn't like being left alone, but she knew her parents had been planning this trip for a long time and didn't want to spoil it for them. Kathy was unaware that an inmate escaped from the local jail for attempted murder. She hugged her parents and they drove off to their destination. Kathy closed the front door and picked up her dog and sat down on the couch to watch a movie. The mood was set for a scary night for Kathy a storm was approaching and the inmate found his way to her house.


The similarities are Kathy, Dog, Murder.  My only concern about leveling an accusation and the thing that prevents me from buying the book is his copyright is 2 years earlier than yours.  

I dunno.

Don

Quoted from Don Khamanna, I don't know, here.  Here is the link to your script: https://web.archive.org/web/20......pdf  This was for the Feb 2015 OWC.  Your logline was: A girl received a chain letter telling her the way she's going to die a gruesome death in the next hour. On the other hand, His preview show copyright 2013.   His premise is: It was Kathy's parent’s anniversary and they planned a weekend getaway leaving Kathy all alone with her dog. Kathy didn't like being left alone, but she knew her parents had been planning this trip for a long time and didn't want to spoil it for them. Kathy was unaware that an inmate escaped from the local jail for attempted murder. She hugged her parents and they drove off to their destination. Kathy closed the front door and picked up her dog and sat down on the couch to watch a movie. The mood was set for a scary night for Kathy a storm was approaching and the inmate found his way to her house. The similarities are Kathy, Dog, Murder.  My only concern about leveling an accusation and the thing that prevents me from buying the book is his copyright is 2 years earlier than yours.   I dunno. Don

Thanks Don for letting me know. Copyrite that was done 2 years ago before mine explains it. I looked into the OWC and the requirement was an urban legend. I guess it required a dog and thats why we both have it. And his book is 2 pages, mine was much longer. The title is tripping and I was told its in bad English but maybe his English is as bad. I also researched that title, theres an urban legend called that but its not about the young girl and the dog. Just something that came to both of us I guess.

And you are right, the similarities are not that vast anyway.

I shouldn't have accused, you're right. I guess Travis and his stolen short came all back. It was me who noticed and started the talk and advised him to look into it. But his was an exceptional work and not based on an urban legend.

https://www.salon.com/2014/08/.....ble_literary_empire/

Seems he 'borrows' heavily most of his stories from the web i.e. urban legends - Bloody Mary etc.

Oh, and Kham, don't buy the book and add to his coffers. Seems most are free iBooks bookstore, nearly all of Von Stoller's works will cost you nothing.) and to quote:

Most of the reviews there are just as harsh. "This is probably the worst written short story that I have ever had the displeasure of reading," one reader wrote of "Rise of the Zombies." "I read this in under five minutes," wrote another. "A child could have done it. In fact I think a child did do it."

Quoted from LC https://www.salon.com/2014/08/.....ble_literary_empire/ Seems he 'borrows' heavily most of his stories from the web i.e. urban legends - Bloody Mary etc. Oh, and Kham, don't buy the book and add to his coffers. Seems most are free iBooks bookstore, nearly all of Von Stoller's works will cost you nothing.) and to quote: Most of the reviews there are just as harsh. "This is probably the worst written short story that I have ever had the displeasure of reading," one reader wrote of "Rise of the Zombies." "I read this in under five minutes," wrote another. "A child could have done it. In fact I think a child did do it."

Poor guy, lol.

Well Im more than sure then its not from me. Mine was so much better!
But seriously, no I left all the thoughts about the steal after Don mentioned the copyright. So you wont see me getting his books)
But thanks)

I still think its good to be on your guard since it did bring up the results once but leveling my accusations is a pretty good idea in this case.

It sucks to see something VERY similar yet it happens all of the time. The Shape of Water... think Guillermo DT was accused of stealing that story.. think it went to court and didn't go anywhere though... but it had a cleaning lady that falls for a gilled creature... some of the scenes are almost identical to the movie scenes.


And there are countless accusations that we never hear about as well...

One of my stories, The Eulogy, that was reviewed on SS I believe was taken and rewritten. It was made as "The Last Word" ... and has made over 4 million dollars thus far. JB, my indian friend, took all my copyright stuff to his attorney. He was going to go after them for me... because he watched the movie and he was at one time going to film my story The Eulogy. The attorney said we had enough but at this point in the game we would never recover enough money to make it worth it. He did say had we caught it when it came out of Sundance and got direct DVD distribution, he would have slapped a cease and desist on them ... and then they would not have been able to make money without cutting me in. The characters(3 of them were exactly the same)..the story was almost exactly the same... and they even had two scenes that were identical. No way that can happen out of the blue. Plus the guy had never written a screenplay in his life. AND had nothing on imdb.. not even a  short. SUCKS but it happens a lot. We just chalk it up and write something better and keep pushing up that mountain.

Quoted from khamanna Mine was so much better!

I hear ya'.  Sure in the hell was... but we're not joshing.  Now, back to my own writing! lol-Andrea

Sorry, Dena.

Wow Dena, sorry to hear that. Now that really sucks!! Such a sad story.

It's a really low thing for someone to do.
I've only posted one script but I think someone used the title "The Reachable Moon" for their erotic Hannibal fan fiction.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16310357?view_adult=true

I'm just annoyed they didn't go with "The reach-around moon".

Sam

Titles are rarely subject to copyright. Titles cannot be stolen.

I'm glad in the end it seemed he hadn't stolen your script but this particular case highlights how bad self-publishing has become. Some companies have made it so easy, with zero quality control, than anyone can publish anything no matter how badly written or if the idea is stolen.

Drac's collection is atrocious. Terrible covers, lame ideas and badly written plot summaries. Check this one out:

"Nestled upon a mountain top in 1590, what the villagers called the Castle of Death was the castle of Drac Von Stoller. Drac, being a blood lover, met a countess by the name of Erzsebet Bathroy, who would be later known as The Blood Countess who killed 640, that he took a liking to."

Wow! I can't wait to read this!

Most of his stories are only a few hundred words. On some sites they are available for free download, on others he charges. In the one you listed, he is charging $5.95 for a 2-page short story!

Anyway, I don't know if anyone has stolen my stuff. I share the name with a famous cyclist and he gets more matches on google than I do so all I ever uncover when I search for myself is which race I've recently won.

Jeez, Dena. That's outrageous.

Stealing a short is one thing, but a feature?

I would have still gone after him, even if it had cost me money - more for the principal of the thing, let the lawsuit stain his name and to let him know that this is not acceptable.
But then again, I am stubborn and can hold a grudge for a long time lol

Quoted from DustinBowcot Titles are rarely subject to copyright. Titles cannot be stolen.

Short phrases (which includes most titles that don’t involve three billboards outside a small town) are almost impossible to copyright. Lots of occasions when unrelated songs end up with the same title, and that even occasionally happens with films.

But if you try to put the words “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” in your title then the trademark litigation will arrive so quickly you’d swear there was a time-warp or Jedi precognition involved.

Quoted from FrankM But if you try to put the words “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” in your title then the trademark litigation will arrive so quickly you’d swear there was a time-warp or Jedi precognition involved.

I think because title and trademark are two entirely different things.