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

Richard,

Thanks for that. I don't know how many cases there are, but yours is at 
least the 5th I have come across; here is another 
http://www.examiner.com/article/is-amazon-breaking-their-pricing-contract-with-kdp-authors 
. When you can get no sense from the staff (and it may not be their 
fault; they seem to suffer mushroom management) it is worth emailing 
Jeff Bezos directly. Again there are stories of quick response and 
action to resolve something by his team.

But that does not alter the contract problem; and I still wonder if it 
is breach of copyright law.

On contract law, I am fairly certain that in the UK that unilateral 
contract change clause has to be accompanied with a 30 day notification 
to all affected. I'd be surprised if there wasn't something like it in 
the US.

Joseph Harris


On 29/04/2013 01:44, Richard Seltzer wrote:
>
> 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] 
> <mailto:seltzer%40samizdat.com>, 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:ebook-community%40yahoogroups.com>
> [mailto:[email protected] 
> <mailto:ebook-community%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of josephHarris
> Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2013 1:13 PM
> To: Publisher's Forum; [email protected] 
> <mailto:pod_publishers%40yahoogroups.com>;
> [email protected] <mailto:ebook-community%40yahoogroups.com>
> 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
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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