Quote:
Originally Posted by GA Russell
Well, Gannett, I suppose it may be a matter of how easy it is for you to do the work. In theory, you could go ahead and make the eBook and offer it for sale, and then wait for anyone to object. And the individual/entity who objects would have to prove that he has the rights.
At that point, you could happily withdraw the eBook from the market and begin negotiations. And if they refuse to meet your price, they would be forced to make their own eBooks.
The one issue that comes to mind with that scenario is that I suspect that popular websites like Amazon and Smashwords require proof that you have the right to publish the eBook before they will list it. But that may not be right. And even if it is, you could start your own website.
It would just depend on how much effort each eBook requires, knowing that odds are that some of them will come to naught.
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You're not doing him any favors by suggesting that he just blatantly violate copyright law, lie to the vendor (if it's Amazon, Smashwords, etc.) about being the rights owner, and then wait to say, "Oh--sorry." The one thing that will certainly accomplish is to get him a reputation as a copyright pirate. Bad idea.
The only legit thing I can think of that he can do is try to track down the rights holders and offer them his services in preparing ebook versions that could then be put up for sale. (He would either be offering his services as a publisher, or as a formatter.) This could be a laborious undertaking, if the copyright owners aren't easy to find.
It must be emphasized that he has no legal standing
whatsoever to put the books up on his own website or for sale through another outlet. I don't think anyone would object to his making versions for his personal use, as long as he really kept them to himself. (Though I could be wrong about that.)