US authors and publishers file copyright infringement suit against KISS Library

By Emmanuel Legrand

US publishers Amazon Publishing and Penguin Random House, alongside 12 authors members of the Authors' Guild – including its President Doug Preston, John Grisham and former President Scott Turow –, have sued KISS Library for copyright infringement. KISS Library is a Ukraine-based entity that operates sites including Kissly.net, Libly.net and Cheap-Library.com. The suit names KISS Library co-founders Rodion Vynnychenko and Artem Besshapochny among the Defendants.

  The Authors' Guild has described KISS Library as "a pirate online bookstore based in Ukraine that illegally sells pirated ebooks at discounted prices to unsuspecting US readers. The defendants dress their websites up to make them look like sophisticated, legitimate sites, intentionally deceiving consumers who are unaware that authors, publishers and legitimate booksellers are being denied their legal share of the sales price."

Site replete with pirated books

  In the suit, filed with the District Court for the Western District of Seattle, Washington, KISS Library is accused of copyright infringement, as well as vicarious and contributory copyright infringement, for “illegally copying, distributing, and selling works written or published by Plaintiffs.” The online vending platforms advertises "unbeatable prices" on ebooks, but according to the suit “its catalogues are replete with pirated ebooks, including titles for which Plaintiffs individually own and/or control exclusive copyrights in the United States.”

  Plaintiffs are seeking an order to immediately and then permanently enjoining Defendants to stop distributing infringing products on their websites; the impounding of all digital copies of the infringing works; to disable or transfer the domain names to plaintiffs; the restraining from "transferring or disposing of any money or other assets"; access to "a full and complete accounting of all sales, copying, and/or reproductions of all infringed works, and all amounts due and owing to Plaintiffs as a result of Defendants’ unlawful activities"; the award of all profits realised as a result of Defendants’ infringement; the award for costs related to the action and attorneys’ fees incurred in prosecuting the action; and any additional "just and equitable" relief decided by the Court.

A united fights against piracy

  “We are filing this suit not only on behalf of ourselves but for the thousands of authors who labor years to write a book, putting their hearts and souls into every sentence, only to see their income lost to book piracy,” said Preston.

  “We are very grateful to Amazon Publishing and Penguin Random House for joining us in this lawsuit, as few authors possess the financial resources to file suit in federal court, particularly against a foreign adversary as cagey as KISS Library,” said Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild.

  She added, “This filing joins together bestselling and emerging authors with industry leaders in a united fight against piracy. Every purchase from an illegal piracy site represents a theft of earned income from the author and publisher, causing massive losses to the industry that, over time, will diminish the industry’s ability to publish a wide diversity of voices. This outright theft must stop.”