[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Piper_

Seems to sum it up well. Thanks, Dennis.

You're welcome.

I guess the only thing left is to be glad they haven't insisted on the same point of sale law for pbooks.

No need to. For pbooks, the current setup satisfies all parties. Publishers have exclusive rights in their territories. If I want to get a book from a British publisher, I have to buy it from a UK retailer. I can, and they can ship it to me. The fact that I'm in the US is irrelevant. the folks with territorail interests have made their cut.

For ebooks, that equation changes.

I'm not optimistic about fixing it, since it appears to be an international law.

Since the issues cross national borders, international law is involved.

This will get worse before it gets better. Trade is increasingly global. I'm assuming that publishers will try to get worldwide ebook rights as part of publishing contracts going forward. Problems with geo-restrictions on books where the contracts don't convey worldwide ebook rights will gradually go away as those contracts expire.

(Publishers don't acquire permanent rights to titles: contracts generally cover the period in which the book is in print. When the book goes out of print, the author, author's agent, or author's estate can request that the rights revert, and try to resell the tile elsewhere or self-publish. Ebooks and Print On Demand have muddied the waters on when a book is out of print, and current contracts specify a minimum level of sales for those editions to qualify as still in print.)

As contracts expire, if there is perceived demand for the title, we may expect to see it picked up by someone else under a different contract with worldwide rights.

But because trade is increasingly global, we'll see increased pressure on publishers to sell worldwide, and increased pressure on smaller publishers trying to compete globally. I expect more consolidation in publishing as part of the effort to build houses that can can compete globally, and I expect to see protectionist efforts by various governments trying to protect local publishers in the face of global competition. (Along the lines of "If you want to offer your international bestseller here, you'll have to cut a deal to have it issued in our country by one of our publishers, so that they get a piece of the action." This already happens in multi-national manufacturing, where there is political pressure to source components for various things from local suppliers in countries affected. Aircraft and automobiles are examples.)

Meanwhile, nobody knows what the landscape will look like when the dust settles.

All I can really say to folks complaining bitterly about geo-restrictions is "I don't blame you, but you're stuck with it, and you will continue to be stuck with it for the foreseeable future."

(heh, I started to use an acronym for "point of sale." Decided not to, but it would be fitting.)

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Dennis