So many titles available in the US only...

bentley · 03-21-2009, 07:45 PM

Is this pissing anyone else off, at least half the books I want are only available in the US?

I suspect this has something to do with copyrights blah blah blah but does anyone know if this is likely to change in the foreseeable future.

AnemicOak · 03-21-2009, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bentley

Is this pissing anyone else off, at least half the books I want are only available in the US?

I suspect this has something to do with copyrights blah blah blah but does anyone know if this is likely to change in the foreseeable future.

It'll only likely change as new contracts are signed, if publishers want to and can secure international electronic rights. Hatchette Book Group is a big one for having the rstriction.

That or the publishers in other areas that already have those rights need to get working on putting out ebooks of their own.

A lot of UK publishers are the ones who hold English language rights for Europe and sometimes Canada too as I understand it. Amazon has said it's waiting to bring out the Kindle in the UK until they can have a large offering of books like they did for the K1 (90,000+). I'm not sure what the state of ebooks from UK publishers is at the moment.

Tom Swift · 03-21-2009, 11:21 PM

It is tiresome and idiotic. They are driving people towards piracy. I can order any book i want from Amazon and they will ship it to China or wherever I need it to go but I can't get electronic books outside the US? Insane.

AnemicOak · 03-22-2009, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

Insane.

Unfortunately it'll probably get more insane before publishers figure things out and get proper contracts in place.

dragonbone · 03-22-2009, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

It is tiresome and idiotic. They are driving people towards piracy. I can order any book i want from Amazon and they will ship it to China or wherever I need it to go but I can't get electronic books outside the US? Insane.

My thoughts EXACTLY!!! This is what makes me so mad. I have been in Japan for 10 years now, and my house is FILLED to the rafters with books from Amazon. I have spent thousands of dollars there and that is NO exaggeration! (I'm sure that people like me spend WAY, way more money at Amazon than the average American). I am a teacher, student, avid fantasy and other fiction reader, collector of beautiful coffee table type books, collector of recipe books (well DH says I'm a collector, since I have at least 40) etc. etc.
Amazon has NO qualms sending all these books (one by one in HUGE double box packaging) all the way to Japan, (and in your case China

) and to every country under the sun at hugely ridiculous inflated shipping costs!
Credit cards from any nation in the world, is readily and greedily accepted, and I'm considered a valued member at Amazon.com! Ha!! What a cheek!
BUT...... tree saving, forest saving, environment saving e-books are DENIED to us!

Well..... I decided about 5 months ago, to never spend ANOTHER red penny at Amazon, ever again.... Unless of course (as I'm fond of saying) they were the last store on the planet OR if by some twist of fate; the Kindle and Amazon became the ipod and iTunes of the future and NOT using their product became a pointless exercise in SULKING.

But not until then. See how Amazon feels when all the book readers in the world (apart from USA residents of course) STOP spending money there!

Curly · 03-22-2009, 03:41 AM

Yes, and the books that are available from non-US book stores tend to be more expensive.

BlackVoid · 03-22-2009, 05:58 AM

"Is this pissing anyone else off, at least half the books I want are only available in the US?"

The DarkNet is available everywhere.

bentley · 03-22-2009, 10:51 AM

I have already emailed Sony about this and complained. Maybe if you guys did as well they might look into this issue a little more and put more pressure on the publishers...

HarryT · 03-22-2009, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bentley

Is this pissing anyone else off, at least half the books I want are only available in the US?

You have been most unfortunate in your choice of books. Fewer than 10% of books at, for example, Fictionwise have territorial restrictions.

Quote:

I suspect this has something to do with copyrights blah blah blah but does anyone know if this is likely to change in the foreseeable future.

No, it has nothing to do with copyright. It has to do with country-specific book distribution contracts.

Lemurion · 03-22-2009, 01:04 PM

Amazon and other sellers can ship overseas because they are selling FROM the territory where they have contracts to sell the book. A store in the US doesn't have to ask for customer ID to make sure the customer is American before selling a book. A Briton in the US can buy a US-only book and take it back to the UK regardless of contracts, and shipping a book overseas is the same thing. It's the distribution contracts that have the limits.

Selling an ebook overseas is seen as a different kind of transaction - and for the moment appears to be be considered to occur at the purchaser's location not the seller's.

bentley · 03-22-2009, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

You have been most unfortunate in your choice of books. Fewer than 10% of books at, for example, Fictionwise have territorial restrictions.

Maybe I am, but I am Canadian and a lot of the Canadian books I want to purchase are available in the US only. That doesn't really make a lot of sense to me. Sony really needs to put some pressure on the distributors to rectify this issue or it will really limit the popularity of the device.

Lemurion · 03-22-2009, 02:42 PM

Canada is a special case: some books are available through the US publisher and others through the UK publisher. It can make things much more difficult for the ebook sellers.

pepak · 03-22-2009, 02:44 PM

Doesn't bother me any - in my country it is quite legal to download books from the internet, so if a store refuses to sell a book to me, I just turn to other sources. I would be happy to pay the author and even the publisher, but I am not willing to jump through hoops in order to do so.

Wetdogeared · 03-22-2009, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bentley

Is this pissing anyone else off, at least half the books I want are only available in the US?

Yes, a lot of the books I want I have put on my wish list, waiting to be available for Canadian PRSxxx owners, and for last 5 months not one of them has become available.

Paying in US dollars, and allowing the Credit Card companies do all of the calculations is frustrating also.

WDE.

03-21-2009, 07:45 PM	#1
bentley Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: none	So many titles available in the US only... Is this pissing anyone else off, at least half the books I want are only available in the US? I suspect this has something to do with copyrights blah blah blah but does anyone know if this is likely to change in the foreseeable future.

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03-21-2009, 11:21 PM	#3
Tom Swift Addict Posts: 250 Karma: 1232346 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Macau Device: Kindle Oasis (plus lots of older devices)	It is tiresome and idiotic. They are driving people towards piracy. I can order any book i want from Amazon and they will ship it to China or wherever I need it to go but I can't get electronic books outside the US? Insane.

03-22-2009, 03:41 AM	#6
Curly I need a holiday! Posts: 1,227 Karma: 4622 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Scotland Device: PRS-505, ipod touch	Yes, and the books that are available from non-US book stores tend to be more expensive.

03-22-2009, 05:58 AM	#7
BlackVoid Evangelist Posts: 415 Karma: 510423 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: Sony PRS-505	"Is this pissing anyone else off, at least half the books I want are only available in the US?" The DarkNet is available everywhere.

03-22-2009, 10:51 AM	#8
bentley Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: none	I have already emailed Sony about this and complained. Maybe if you guys did as well they might look into this issue a little more and put more pressure on the publishers...

03-22-2009, 01:04 PM	#10
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	Amazon and other sellers can ship overseas because they are selling FROM the territory where they have contracts to sell the book. A store in the US doesn't have to ask for customer ID to make sure the customer is American before selling a book. A Briton in the US can buy a US-only book and take it back to the UK regardless of contracts, and shipping a book overseas is the same thing. It's the distribution contracts that have the limits. Selling an ebook overseas is seen as a different kind of transaction - and for the moment appears to be be considered to occur at the purchaser's location not the seller's.

03-22-2009, 02:42 PM	#12
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	Canada is a special case: some books are available through the US publisher and others through the UK publisher. It can make things much more difficult for the ebook sellers.

03-22-2009, 02:44 PM	#13
pepak Guru Posts: 610 Karma: 4150 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-T3, Kobo Libra H2O	Doesn't bother me any - in my country it is quite legal to download books from the internet, so if a store refuses to sell a book to me, I just turn to other sources. I would be happy to pay the author and even the publisher, but I am not willing to jump through hoops in order to do so.

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