Re: Who Checks to See that the Publisher Has Rights (was Re: Amazon remotely deletes 1984)

From: "Kent S. Larsen II" 
> At 10:18 PM -0700 7/22/09, Erica Frank wrote:
>>
>>Brick-and-mortar stores don't allow random people to walk in off the
>>street and sell books on their shelves, either. They work through
>>distributors connected to publishers, and there are legal
>>contracts--with real, legal signatures--involved.
> 
> 
> Not true. Anyone can set themselves up as a retailer, and purchase from Ingram, Baker & Taylor, etc., without having to sign any agreement that says that either party is checking (there may be some agreements, but I've never seen one that says that either side is checking.
> 
> Likewise, when I sell books to Baker & Taylor and Ingram, they don't do anything to check that I have the rights to the books I'm selling.
> 
> 
> 
>>
>>Amazon should be requiring the same level of confirmation that any
>>paper publisher uses: a notarized signature on a contract, not a
>>click-though contract.
> 
> 
> But that's exactly what I'm saying. There ISN'T any such check!
.........

Kent,

I am in broad agreement with most of your post. The only thing that might be worth thinking about is the use of ISBN. In the 1984 situation I understand the work was public domain in Australia. It is hardly rocket science to do a check on source with a totally automatic hoovering process, such as the Kindle appears to use.

A serious player in the field can hardly claim that they don't understand copyright issues. An ISBN is, in itself, a check of sorts. This identifies the publisher and validates their physical reality in so far as the ISBN purchase process has a system to do so. 

Amazon has no excuses except slop and greed. The apology half recognised that and seemed whole-hearted. Perhaps they will start looking at their moral approach generally and their failure to consider that publishers (especially small publishers) they serve are real people.

.......

>>Amazon *is* the publisher of these ebooks. Nobody else can create
>>Kindle-DRM'd ebooks. And the publisher certainly does have the
>>obligation to confirm that the books they create are legal to sell.
>>
> 
> Nonsense. Amazon is NOT the publisher of Kindle ebooks.
> 
> Kent
> 
> 

It is important to understand the difference between publisher and adaptation to system or special purpose.

Joseph

Joseph Harris  -  Debt Control Man
author: Control Your Debt Crisis on Your Own Terms
blog: http://debtcontrolman.wordpress.com
http://www.controlyourdebtcrisis.co.uk
debt dictionary: http://www.controlyourdebtcrisis.co.uk/debtwiki/


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