Authors are now responsible to find their work was just taken?

Authors beware of this site.Docstoc.com

Stunned to find out that my book was on this site and I didn't know about it. I emailed them last week and told them to take it down. They sent me back a form letter but I was not about to read it since I was so angry. Low and behold it turned out the letter said I had to go to a link on their site and file a remove request.

I saw it still up today and was furious. This time I did to the online request but still was not satisfied so I searched for a phone number. The only number I could find was after I signed into the site and it was to customer service. I asked them what made them think they could just take someone else's book and put it up on their site. Then I was told something that shocked me.

They said they get submissions from members and have no control over what they upload. The woman said it was up to authors to ask for the work to be taken down and they were more than willing to do it.

The problem here is that authors would have to do what? Check obscure sites to make sure no one just decided they could do whatever they wanted with their work?

There are literally thousands of writers out there just like me without agents and lawyers to sue sites like this. We work just as hard as "real authors" with an army standing behind them but we don't have anyone to back us up.

I wrote the book 10 years ago to help families like mine when no one was talking about PTSD and families of veterans. I had it for free up on my old website but I guess someone decided they had the right to just take it and put it up on their own site.

Nice work and I hope God rewards them for doing something like this and then telling me it was my responsibility to find out they did it.