Booklocker GUILTY of Copyright Infringement, NOT Sartain
(Reprinted by permission of P. Potts)
Booklocker GUILTY of Copyright Infringement, NOT Sartain, true story! Isn’t it interesting how a few lines on a search engine result can be misconstrued and then manipulated for the benefit of others? For example, Booklocker, a really cheap little POD company from Maine (now located in Bradenton, Florida) is guilty of copyright infringement, NOT Sartain. Yet, all the mini paragraphs of the search engine results say: Booklocker.com Inc v. Sartain. Plaintiff: Booklocker.com Inc; Defendant: Sartain; Cause: Copyright Infringement, which makes it appear as if Sartain is responsible instead of Booklocker, the real perpetrator.
Sartain is a designer that I wanted to hire for several tasks when I discovered her excellent works. When I Googled Sartain, I came across a “copyright infringement” lawsuit between her and this POD company called Booklocker. I almost surfed right past this misrepresented entry and missed out on using Sartain for my projects. But then I decided to read the lawsuit documents. It turns out that Booklocker is the party who’s GUILTY of “copyright infringement,” NOT Sartain.
Sartain created 1200 or more book covers for Booklocker with the understanding that these covers would be used by the authors for their books (of course) plus personal promotional purposes such as their website; in newsletters, brochures, or flyers; or possibly a promo poster displayed in a bookstore for a book signing. She did not, however, sign away her rights for Booklocker and its clients to begin mass producing her artwork on t-shirts, coffee mugs, calendars, mouse pads, and other such paraphernalia such as that provided by companies like Cafe Press. Sartain mentioned this to Booklocker, reminding them of the copyright infringement of such acts and, in addition, mentioned that many of the book covers she created for Booklocker used stock photography provided by iStock Photo and BigStock Photo, which specifically forbid (in their contracts) such actions.
Booklocker, having an attorney on retainer, rushed to his office and demanded that this attorney legally file a lawsuit against Sartain “IN CASE” Sartain decided to take legal action over and above a simple warning letter. After reading this, I investigated Booklocker thoroughly and discovered that this company sues everyone and uses these bad-ass BULLY techniques to threaten and manipulate anyone who gets in their way. Then, after Booklocker files its lawsuits against anyone who challenges them, they send a letter saying they will drop the lawsuit if the matter is dismissed.
DROP the lawsuit when THEY are the guilty party! What a crock! Booklocker is owned by a small town, Texas corn-fed yokel named Hoy who has no background or education in publishing, writing, or the media. I recently discovered, in fact, that she was once an accountant and office manager for a cornpone TV station in Woodlands, Texas. Yeah, and that experience makes Booklocker (an already established company before Hoy purchased it), a reliable, reputable publisher when, in fact, it’s a POD (print on demand) service that charges its self-publishing clients a bundle of cash to “print” their books through another POD/printer company called Lightning Source.
After researching the book covers created for Booklocker’s clients, it looks like the only “professional” and really talented artwork on these covers was created by Sartain. The covers created by the designers before and after her tenure are (and were) very basic and amateur. So, bottom line, I hired Sartain for several projects and her work is exemplary! Isn’t it interesting how a company (Booklocker) that excels in copyright infringement can lie and manipulate the public JUST by how it words a website summary? By the way, the lawsuit was dropped a few days after it was filed, AFTER Booklocker threatened Sartain. Why? Because Booklocker KNEW it was the guilty party; therefore, Booklocker had no case against Sartain.
And last, I wonder when iStock Photo and BigStock Photo will figure out that Booklocker is openly violating their contracts and sue Booklocker for copyright infringement? After all, Booklocker advertises to its clients that they should all use Cafe Press to promote their self published books on t-shirts, coffee mugs, calendars, aprons, ornaments, etc. and iStock and BigStock’s contracts EXPRESSEDLY FORBID this practice. It’s not like Booklocker doesn’t KNOW which covers use these stock photos because Sartain credited the source of the stock photos on the back of every cover that uses them. And, since iStock is now owned by Getty, maybe this multimillion dollar company will take action against Booklocker and STOP Booklocker’s copyright infringements. But who will stop Booklocker for blaming everyone else for their dishonesty and incompetence? Booklocker GUILTY of Copyright Infringement, NOT Sartain, true story!
Check out what others are saying about Booklocker:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/book-magazine-publishers/booklocker-publishin/booklocker-publishing-ripoff-u-p447w.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/book-magazine-publishers/booklocker-com/booklocker-com-took-217-00-f-b3659.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/tutoring/angela-hoy-richard-h/angela-hoy-richard-hoy-boo-j6e74.htm
http://www.writers.net/forum/read.php?6,267532,267564
Here’s an excellent report written by the famous Piers Anthony, a prolific writer with an excellent record for great work. Hoy threatened to sue him as well, but he just blew her off. (Select “Publish on Web” button, then scroll down to Booklocker and read the review).
http://www.hipiers.com/publishing.html#B1