RE: a Kindle KDP clause - is it breach of copyright. [X-posted]

Interesting question.

Keep in mind that Amazon uses automated systems to determine if a book is
for sale elsewhere -- faulty software.  In my case, they claimed that a book
of mine was available for free somewhere else and they refused to pay me any
royalty on it.  The book that they had found was a different edition from a
different publisher.  They have no process to arbitrate such disputes.  They
simply make unilateral decisions.  If you don't like it, you can sell your
books elsewhere.

Also, they change the terms of their contract frequently, without notifying
publishers.  By doing business with them, you agree to their terms; and they
can change the terms at any time.  It is the publisher's responsibility to
check the contract Web page frequently and try to decipher what, if anything
is different today.  That's very strange way to do business.  I doubt it
would hold up in court.

At Kindle, customers rule and publishers are treated like beggars.  In
general, if customers have a question of any kind, they can talk to someone
from Kindle within a minute.  But if a publisher has a question, it
typically takes 2-3 days to get a canned email response that doesn't really
address the question, and it is absolutely impossible to talk to anyone on
the phone.  

Best wishes.

Richard


Richard Seltzer, B&R Samizdat Express, seltzer-LVbi7B8qMF5Wk0Htik3J/[email protected], 617-469-2269
Ebooks by download -- Quench Editions
http://www.samizdat.com/quencheditions/
Review of Quench Editions by Orson Scott Card
http://www.samizdat.com/quencheditions/testimonials.html
Personal Web site, blog, and twitter: http://www.samizdat.com,
http://www.samizdat.com/blog, http://twitter.com/richardseltzer 





-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of josephHarris
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2013 1:13 PM
To: Publisher's Forum; [email protected];
[email protected]
Subject: [ebook-community] a Kindle KDP clause - is it breach of copyright.
[X-posted]

I recently - elsewhere - posed a question about a clause in the KDP
contract; unfortunately someone who claimed to be a lawyer poo-poohed it,
discouraging others from joining in. ["Claimed" because nothing they said
showed an understanding of the point.]

KDP has two discounts before payment to authors/small publishers, 70% for
prices $0-1.99 and $10.99 upwards; and 35% for $2.99 to $9.99.

There are some hard to stomach clauses in the latter; one in particular
regards the price on which Amazon bases its discount and for payment to the
supplier or vendor. This effectively says that if the ebook in question is
sold more cheaply elsewhere than the price at which it is offered to Amazon,
Amazon will reset the *vendor price* to that sales price irrespective of
whether the vendor has any control over that retailer. This has happened a
number of times to my knowledge, including selling for $0 and determining
that as the vendor price to be discounted before payment (or no payment)
from Amazon to the vendor.

Now the detail of how they arrive at an alternative price is not the issue I
want to explore. My question is: does taking that power to themselves does
Amazon, in ignoring the price set for their system, abrogate the copyright
vested in the creator or licenced to the copyright holder?

Put another way, is it breach of copyright law to alter vendor prices
unilaterally, and so control the business model of their suppliers?

Joseph Harris


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