Quote:
Originally Posted by llcj
I'm wondering if someone could fill in a few blanks for me. The publishers and Overdrive and 3M have some sort of deals about the published works, but how does Amazon figure into this? Does Amazon, because its format is proprietary (I'm assuming), have licensing agreements with the publishers only, with Overdrive and 3M only, or with all parties involved?
It seems to me that because the works belong to the publishers and because Amazon's format belongs to Amazon you would need to have some sort of agreement all around. It also seems like it could get complicated.
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Overdrive has deals with the publishers to sell (or lease) licenses to (a very limited selection of) ebooks to libraries. For ePub, they also host servers that serve out DRM'ed files when a library user checks out an ebook license via an ADEPT-compatible reader or app.
They have a side-deal with Amazon where Amazon effectively subcontracts with Overdrive to deliver kindle-format files when a library user checks out an ebook license via a Kindle reader or app. (I'm not sure if any money actually changes hands or in which direction.)