From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 10:18:10 +0000

This is interesting, Jim.  Amazon UK shows multiple print copies
available, mostly paperback.  I did not see the early part of this
conversation, so I may be just repeating a point already made, but
this could be the result of copyright issues.  Ulysses is at least
arguably still protected by copyright in the U.S., but is clearly in
the public domain in the U.K. and elsewhere.  So there may be little
incentive to publish or distribute it in the U.S., suggesting yet
another instance where our hyper-protective copyright laws backfire by
discouraging rather than encouraging the availability of creative
expression.

Kevin

Kevin L. Smith, M.L.S., J.D.
Director, Copyright and Scholarly Communications
Duke University Libraries


On Sep 20, 2015, at 9:28 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 20:10:22 -0700

I had three interactions with Amazon today after confirming that
indeed I could not find a serviceable new paperback edition of Ulysses
on their site.

1.  The click-here-and-we'll-call-you help representative failed
completely.  He had clearly never heard of Joyce or Ulysses and could
not find any copy for sale on the website.

2.  So I wrote in to their email customer service and received back a
note encouraging me to purchase this volume:

http://www.amazon.com/Ulysses-James-Joyce/dp/1494405490/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1442585290&sr=8-1&keywords=paperback+for+Ulysses

This is a dump-to-POD edition distributed by Amazon's own
self-publishing arm.  It's the most remarkable copy of Ulysses I've
ever seen, since it fits the whole book into 228 pages, trim size
8.5x11, formatted with two columns of 56 lines each per page, each
line averaging 10 or so words.  I've not seen the physical object and
can't be sure, but the type face must be 10 points or more likely
smaller.

3.  So I squawked again and had back one more message from the e-mail
customer service, confirming that no reputable publisher now handles
Ulysses through Amazon.  This is unlikely to be true, but it is what
Amazon's representative says.  This customer service representative
again seems to have no idea who Joyce is, what the book is, or why
someone would care.  He invites me to submit a product request online.

Jim O'Donnell
ASU