Solicitors letter from John Wiley?

Question

Some time ago I bought an ebook on ebay (Windows XP for dummies) and was told I had the right to re-sell it - which I did for 99p.

But this morning I recieved a letter from America informing me that John Wiley (who they say own the copyright on the ebook) want me to refund them the 99p that I was paid and they are also demanding £50 from me?

Are they for real? There is no way I'm paying them £50. Has anyone else ever had any experiences like this?

They told me that I'm forbidden to tell anybody about their demand for 'settlement' so of course I intend to scan their letter and post it all over the internet!

Thanks for the advice. Well strangely enough 11 River Street is the address that I've been given but the letter is worded so aggressively and I feel a bit intimidated by it. I'm not sure if I should respond to them or not. I've never been bullied by a big corporation before and I can't say I like it much!

Answer 1

Contact the Trading Standards Department at your local Council they will soon tell you if it's a scam

Answer 2

John Wiley are major publishers of eBooks, and are pretty aggressive on enforcing their copyrights.

Most eBooks are sold on a license basis, not an ownership basis. This means that when you "buy" an eBook, you're actually just buying a license to read it. These licenses are usually not transferable, which means you can't resell it. Since you bought the eBook on eBay, chances are the seller had no legal right to sell it, and, therefore, you never legally owned it anyway.

Even if the license is transferable, it is of course illegal to sell a copy.

You don't, of course, have to pay them the 50 pounds voluntarily. You can ignore them and hope they don't follow through. Maybe they won't sue you, maybe they will - no-one can guess.

EDIT - to colin - the Hoboken address is Wiley's US Head office. Their UK head office is in Sussex. The letter, however, purportedly came from a solicitor, so the poster can verify whether they are a legitimate UK solicitors office or not easily.

And btw - offers to settle in copyright infringement cases almost ALWAYS include a confidentiality clause. The copyright holder doesn't want it known that he offered 'A' the chance to settle for $50 when he's trying to get 'B' to settle for $500.

Richard

Answer 3

Sounds very like a scam, mate. No copyright owner can or would try to stop you telling other people about their "claim". Someone's tracked the sale, that's all, and are trying it on.

As I recall, their genuine address is 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ - I'll bet that's different from what you've got.

I might add that "solicitor" is an English expression, not American.

Answer 4

I'd ask for a copy of any agreement I signed agreeing to those terms; and tell them to get bent.

Answer 5

what a silly scam. some people will try to con other people. they have no conscience. i would bin it.