Quote:
Originally Posted by tech_au
The stupidity of geo-restricted internet sales has been done to death here over the last couple of years here so I won't rehash it again.
It is pretty stupid that you can buy a paper book that is only for sale in a certain country from another country using the internet but you can't buy an electronic book.
But thats the dinosaur book industry for you.
|
It arguably is stupid, but you can't just blame the publisher. Georestrictions exist because publishers don't have the
rights to sell certain books in certain territories. They acquired the book for publication where
they do business. The rights elsewhere may be held by someone else, who can and will sue if they think
their rights are being stepped on.
Going forward, I expect more publishers to try to acquire worldwide electronic rights for titles, but existing titles are covered by existing contracts.
Quote:
|
Also what other industry would fix the prices that the retailer must sell them for. I still haven't worked out why this isn't illegal yet.
|
Simple enough. The Agency Model changes the relationship between the publisher and the retailer. The publisher is no longer selling books to the retailer at a specified discount, which the retailer can then then offer at a lower price by reducing the margin they'll accept on the sale. Instead, the retailer is an
agent, selling the publisher's wares for a defined commission, under a contract that specifies the price they have to charge.
You may not like the deal, but there is nothing illegal about it. (And you may assume the publishers involved made very sure of that before proceeding.)
______
Dennis