A problem has arisen with the Third Portable Wargame Compendium.
I have just had a message from Amazon about the book. Apparently they think that it contains previously published material that may already be under copyright. I have got to resolve this within five days, otherwise they will withdraw it from publication.
Needless to say, I have no idea what the problem is as the Compendium is made up of articles provided by living authors who all created their own work. The only thing it might be is an illustration that has been used, so I will have to check everything and provide evidence of it being in the public domain. If it isn’t, I will have to remove it.
I have never had anything like this happen before and I suspect that an Amazon AI bot has found something that its programming considers plagiarism or copying of some sort, hence the message.
It looks as if I’m going to have a trying day today!
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Bob, the obvious issue might be the reproduction of the EH ECW map in my campaign article.
ReplyDeleteArthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteFunnily enough, that thought had struck me as well. I will have to remove it even though the copyright is clearly acknowledged.
I will also check all the other illustrations I have used and remove any that might be a problem, even though I am sure that they are all in the public domain.
All the best,
Bob
You might want to check with contributors whether any part of their work has been used before, even if article as a whole is new. It might have done a text search and picked up a match somewhere.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Clipsom,
DeleteI suspect that the problem relates to one of the illustrations I have used. I am therefore checking that they are all in the Public Domain.
All the best,
Bob
Bob -
ReplyDeleteYou might want to check the map I used for the Byzantiad. I did use a map drawn from an internet source, but heavily modified it. I hoped that the modifications were sufficient to supersede the copyright, but could have been wrong about that.
I can re-do it if required. Or, if it is sufficient add in an acknowledgement of the source. The map I used is identical to the one produced here:
https://www.biblestudy.org/maps/byzantine-empire.html
...but I don't actually recall that this was my actual source (biblestudy.org is not ringing any bells).
Everything else, including the cartoons, I'm pretty sure is my own.
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteThe fact that you heavily modified the original map should mean that it passes the Amazon KDP AI bot test. Even adding in a link does not seem to satisfy the bots. I have had to remove several 17th century illustrations because I cannot supply the names and dates of death of their originators, even though I have supplied the website links to prove that they are in the Public Domain.
All the best,
Bob
Bob -
DeleteI do wonder why internet publishers are so intent upon using AI to monitor content. It has been known since practically forever that AI is unreliable; picking up stuff that is unobjectionable, and passing by stuff that is more than questionable.
Here one I saw today: an item that carefully substituted g*n for gun. Since the meaning is clear, what's the point? I don't mean what's the point of substituting the 'u' with * - that's clearly to get by the AI censor; but what is the point of censoring 'gun'? It is not merely lazy; it is crazy.
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteThe use of AI to check the text of a book like this seems no only overkill but also very inefficient. To send AI messages that effectively say ‘There is a mistake, but we cannot tell you where’ is of no use to anyone … and then to follow it minutes later with another message congratulating you on publishing your new book shows that their system really isn’t working properly. I’ve half a mind not to make the AI-generated ‘changes’ in order to see what happens.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteDid Amazon provide any details on the offending passage(s)? If so, that might help in troubleshooting. If not, perhaps ask that question. Also, I wonder if any of your contributors have already published their works. Perhaps in a blog post? Amazon is likely using an automated plagiarism AI checker that are not infallible.
Jonathan Frietag,
DeleteAmazon KDP has not given me any indication what they consider might be 'copied' from other sources, although their main concern seems to be that some of the 17th century illustrations I have used might not be in the Public Domain.
It may be that some contributors have have published their contributions in some form on a blog, but policing the contributions to the Compendium this way - especially as the authors are all acknowledged - seems to be rather excessive.
All the best,
Bob
Perhaps parts have been used on blogs, as your own? It depends whether Amazon checks those sources too.
ReplyDeletePhil Dutré,
DeleteThe main problem seems to be some 17th century illustrations for which I cannot provide the death dates of the originators!
The wonders of using AI bots to police publishing!
All the best,
Bob
It is not the brilliant silicon-based mind of AI that is going to kill us. It is stupid s**t like this that AI does that will do it because there is no way to work around the algorithm and there will be no people available (or empowered) to over ride the stupid machine.
ReplyDeleteEd M,
DeleteAs we have discovered thanks to the Post Office Horizon scandal, computer systems are not perfect, and relying on a supposedly ‘intelligent’ one to spot errors seems very dangerous. It rather reminds me of a filter installed on a search engine used some years ago that refused to allow searches containing certain words. Ask it anything about Essex, Sussex, or Scunthorpe (to name three) and it refused to search and displayed a warning message!
All the best,
Bob
Hope you can sort tbe problem out soon then Bob, it sounds a right pain.
ReplyDeleteRay Rousell,
Delete‘The computer says no.’ That sketch isn’t very amusing any more as I’ve discovered just how irritating such a reliance on so-called AI can be. I’ll get there … eventually!
All the best,
Bob
I assume all sorted now (6:40pm Tuesday 6 August) as I’ve just ordered a copy from Amazon - delivery due Thursday 8/8 😊
ReplyDeleteElliesdad,
DeleteYou’re doing better than I am! It won’t allow me to order author’s copies yet, but it will sell the books online.
This situation just doesn’t make sense to me.
All the best,
Bob
How frustrating to be told there's a problem but no indication of what the problem is.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of a cartoon I watched once. The heroes were on a space station undergoing a major, life threatening emergency. The engineer who designed it was so full of himself that the only indicator he gave was a single blinking light labeled "PROBLEM".
Mr Pavone,
DeleteIt is a very frustrating position to find oneself in ... and with no way to actually interact with anyone for Amazon KDP who might be able to help.
I like your story about the stolen spaceship. It has similarities to several real-life situations I have known.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteI have just ordered it from Amazon too..!
Best wishes
Anthony
Anthony Morton,
DeleteYou’ve done better than me! I’m still trying to order author’s copies!
All the best,
Bob
Sorry to hear about this Bob, hope it gets sorted OK. Somehwat ironic that AI is used to check for 'plagiarism', when the AI systems themsleves have 'learned' by using wholesale scanning of enormous amounts of on-line texts without seeking any permissions...
ReplyDeleteDavid in Suffolk,
DeleteThe use of AI to check for plagiarism makes sense up to a point … but it needs some human input into the decision making chain, otherwise things that are perfectly valid will be rejected. For example, if I quote from another book - something. That is quite legitimate if done correctly - AI could well reject it as being plaigarism.
Your point about AI scanning text without permission is also well made, and it is yet another reason why this sort of use of AI should be overseen by some of human interaction.
All the best,
Bob
Dear Bob, hope this issue is resolved soon. Amazon should be supporting authors better than this. Congratulations on the book we shall be ordering when it’s available on our Amazon
ReplyDeleteGlory to Ruritania,
DeleteI also hope that the problem has been sorted out ... but it would not surprise me if Amazon's AI bots keep telling me that there are other things that I need to sort out.
The book should be available for sale online by now, although I wont be making an 'official' announcement until Saturday.
All the best,
Bob