Quote:
Originally Posted by DaronFraley
Therefore, doesn't it make more sense for ebook rights to be split up by language? Then if a book is translated to German, it could be sold in any country where German speaking readers live?
|
Be careful what you wish for...
You really wouldn't want German language books restricted to sale in (or to) German speaking countries. One of the big markets (or so I imagine) for e-books is for folks living outside their country of origin.
It's difficult (and expensive) to find current English language reading material where I live (France). Germans living in France would like to be able to buy German language books and magazines without having to physically go back home to a book shop. But even when dealing with p-books there are geographical restrictions - my German friend living in France claims that Amazon in the UK would not sell her English language books for shipment to France. (Claims it's because of her German based credit card.)
Some of it relates, too, to VAT (sales tax to those in the US, though it works a little differently). When you download commercial software, you are charged VAT according to where you, the customer, are located and that's the concept they've adopted for e-books. With p-books, you pay the VAT at the seller's location (with some complications for sellers like Amazon, who have businesses in multiple countries).