From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:08:45 -0400 All interests are indeed aligned. That doesn't mean the situation will change anytime soon. I don't know the particulars of the volume you referenced, but for many books, in any language, the problem is the retrospective clearing of rights. It has a big administrative cost. (This is also the primary reason for the orphan works problem.) There are also different rights issues for print and electronic books. A couple years ago I worked with a client that had set up a French-language Web site for academic titles. It was print only. 50% of the sales for that site came from outside France. Joe Esposito On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 4:24 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Jim O'Donnell <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:54:16 +0200 > > Joe, I have to count your response a worthy effort, though this title was > but one example of various German books I've tried to buy over a period of > time. Suhrkamp has no objection or difficulty whatsoever in selling the > print editions of these books in German over the Internet, whether through > Amazon.de or buch.de or other sites, around the world to all comers, no > questions asked. I don't think German language authors very often find > publishers in other countries clamoring for the rights to publish them *in > German* in those countries. So whatever restriction is being imagined here > is fresh and new to e-books: I grant you it may be the result of > interpreting some clause like "all rights not expressly granted are hereby > tied up in a way disadvantageous to author, publisher, booksellers, and > readers for all eternity". Probably shouldn't sign such clauses. > > But the real point to me is that Amazon wants to dominate the universe > with innovative and successful retail. Making this an issue and fixing it > would be a good cause for international understanding. I'm eccentric, an > American who reads German for pleasure. But there are native speakers of > German living in the US and Bahrain and China who would love to get books > in their language through the magic network. But if they don't have an > address and a credit card in Germany (or likely Switzerland or Austria), > they're out of luck too. And my colleagues who teach German would like to > have their students improve their German would also love to be able to have > them get books easily. Germanophone governments, publishers, authors, and > other cultural institutions would love to have more people around the world > working on improving their German. ALL INTERESTS ARE ALIGNED HERE. Is the > problem only that nobody's found a smart lawyer yet? > > Jim O'Donnell > > > On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 8:51 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]> >> Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:28:36 -0400 >> >> It makes no sense until you look at the contractual history. I have >> no idea what Hesse's contract says, but it likely grants rights only >> to German in Germany. That would have been a print contract, for >> which there has been on "upgrading" for ebooks without a new >> negotiation with the author's estate. >> >> These problems make no sense and they will not go away simply because >> they make no sense. They will persist for decades. >> >> The good news is that new books are being published with different >> contracts, which are mostly global in orientation. Many, many >> exceptions to this especially for English-language and >> Spanish-language books. >> >> Joe Esposito >> >> >> On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 4:10 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> > From: Jim O'Donnell <[log in to unmask]> >> > Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:52:45 +0200 >> > >> > I'd like to read Hesse's Glasperlenspiel on my iPad. Looks like it >> > can't be done. Amazon.de won't sell it to me, nor will buch.de -- not >> > for delivery to my country. Amazon says it's the publishers' fault. >> > This means that Suhrkamp, who sells the print and e-book editions, >> > will sell me the print through various dealers but not the e-book. >> > Can this make sense? >> > >> > (Never mind the chatter on Internet sites that you can re-register >> > your Kindle to Germany. Quite apart from the risks of relocating and >> > then probably discovering that things you'd bought before won't work >> > any more, there's the nuisance value of having to get a credible >> > German address and likely a German credit card, etc., etc., etc. And >> > the selection of German-language books purchasable through US Amazon >> > is pathetic. Best solution I can think of is to suborn a German >> > friend to purchase the non-Kindle format [pdf] e-book edition and then >> > re-sell it to me -- legally?) >> > >> > I'd welcome either news how to achieve my goal or some explanation of >> > how it can make sense in a globalized world not to sell books outside >> > your own borders. As I understand the restrictions in print world, >> > they depend on having the rights to sell in X country, where at least >> > the publisher can make sure that the same artifact is available in as >> > many countries as possible. But for now it appears that in-copyright >> > German literature may be read electronically only in Germany. I have >> > every reason to think that similar restrictions apply at other >> > borders, in both directions. All sorts of higher order educational >> > and cultural benefits flow from people being able to acquire "content" >> > in different languages. Why would books be different? >> > >> > Jim O'Donnell >> >