Re: Fw: Amazon's Ebook License A Scam, Says Doctorow

From: "Lee Passey" 
> On 1/15/2010 2:37 AM, joseph harris wrote:
> 

.......
> 
> Of course, it is possible to create a contract between a copyright 
> holder and a purchaser, but that contract and its terms must be clearly 
> evident, and is a function of contract law and not the grant of 
> copyright. Further, the contract is only between the copyright holder 
> and the original purchaser, and absent further contracts where the 
> copyright holder can be deemed a third-party beneficiary, there is no 
> privity of contract between the copyright holder and any third party.
> 
> I'm certain that what Amazon is attempting to do with it's "license" is 
> create the very kind of contractual obligation that it cannot achieve 
> through copyright law.
> 

Lee,

I think you have grasped my point. The rightsowner/holder can rufuse to sell copies except under a specific contract. Much of the arguments from people like Doctorow depend on the idea that print books can - as a matter of inviolable law - be passed on in any way chosen by the buyer *always*.

But also bear in mind that publishing is an industry of licences anyway. So the idea of a licence is not strange. Ownership of a right under law does give the power to offer contractual terms to allow others use of that right. Thus, while you may argue that contract law has to come into play, it is the ownership of copies that enables such usage.

Joseph

Joseph Harris - Debt Control Man
http://www.controlyourdebtcrisis.co.uk
Author: Control Your Debt Crisis on Your Own Terms
http://twitter.com/debtcontrolman 
SAQ - SAve the cheQue


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