From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]> Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2012 09:07:46 -0500 Here is the best overall account of the mess with e-books that I have yet seen: http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2012/11/02/why-e-book-distribution-is-completely-and-utterly-broken-and-how-to-fix-it/#comment-63561 Sandy Thatcher > From: Jim O'Donnell <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:59:36 +0100 > > Sandy, thanks. The most trenchant sentence in that piece is: "But I > have a feeling that Amazon's default standing is that they simply > won't sell anything at all out of the territories where they know > absolutely that they have the rights." > > That feels astute. Absent absolute assurance of rights, they will > assume they have no rights and will utter mumbo-jumbo about why they > can't do perfectly reasonable things. > > Jim O'Donnell > > > On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 10:56 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]> >> Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:04:32 -0500 >> >> Perhaps this throws some light (or yet more darkness) on the question? >> >> >> http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/10/23/but-why-would-amazon-wipe-your-kindle-to-protect-amazon/ >> >> Sandy Thatcher >> >> >>> From: Sally Morris <[log in to unmask]> >>> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:59:42 +0100 >>> >>> German copyright law does not allow, as English and US law do, for the >>> type of clause that assigns future rights that have not yet been >>> invented. Hence it would not have been possible for the original >>> contracts for those books to include electronic rights > > >> > >> Sally Morris > >> South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex, UK BN13 3UU > >> Email: [log in to unmask] > >> > >> ________________________________ >>> >>> 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