Re: Re: Amazon.com's "Search Inside the Book"

• Original Message ----- From: "Dodi Schultz" <SCHULTZ[_at_]compuserve.com> To: "CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property" <CNI-COPYRIGHT[_at_]cni.org> Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 4:25 PM Subject: [CNI-(C)] Re: Amazon.com's "Search Inside the Book"

David Dailey writes,

  >> When I read Amazon's announcement, I thought "Wow, what market clout
  >> Amazon must have to convince all those publishers to give them
  >> permission..." Others seem to have thought "what a nasty Amazon to
  >> so boldly infringe the copyrights of all those quaint publishers..."

> *What* copyrights of the publishers? You've overlooked a whole group here:

> the actual copyright owners. I.e., the authors.

Publishers are typically copyright owners too. A license in a copyright is also a property right.

> We're a little puzzled by
> Amazon's gimmick, but what concerns us is the publishers' so readily
> granting that permission and whether or not they've consulted with those
> who in fact own the rights.

One must look first to the contract/license that the author has with the publisher. That very well may grant such a right, and thus NOT violate the author's copyright. Not being party to such agreements, I cannot say what the standard is. However, I would guess that the publishers have some right (or think they do) to do what they have done in many, if not most, of these cases. Otherwise, I seriously doubt that their attorneys would have approved such a practice.

-Bodi. Received on Wed Nov 12 2003 - 02:12:07 GMT