Amazon Self-Publishers Eye Emerging Legal Arena to Fight Piracy

When Nick Singh’s self-published book “Ace the Data Science Interview” debuted on Amazon, he thought he’d evaded a big piracy risk by eschewing e-books and only releasing hard copies.

Singh’s guide to getting hired at Big Tech firms landed among Amazon’s top 3,000 best-selling books, but his success also put him in the crosshairs of counterfeit book printers that have proliferated on the online marketplace.

Less than a year after the book’s release, Singh said he spends several days each month pushing requests through Amazon’s take-down system for illegitimate listings, and he estimates he’ll lose 20% of his revenue this ...