This could have been a good article with more editing.
The headline makes little sense, as there is no evidence given that Amazon Publishing departs from the standard contract. Of course, I mean Amazon Publishing, not Kindle Direct Publishing. As for comparing what's bad about the most common big five contract terms, and what bad about Amazon having such a big market share in book retailing, the two subjects are disconnected.
The other problem is conflation of the most common contract terms with features that "publishing contracts now often contain" and that "in some instances" are included. How often is "some," and how often is "now often?"
As for the substance:
-- Some of this does not outrage me:
If the publisher buys the book proposal and pays the advance, and then the book is no good, it seems fair to everyone (including readers) that the author keeps the advance paid to date, with the book remaining unpublished. Now, if the complete book is submitted to the publisher and the publisher reneges on the agreement to publish for some reason other than plagiarism, that's bad for everyone, including the publisher's stockholders. But does that really happen? I guess it might also happen with a highly topical book where the author is late. Whether I feel bad for the author would depend on how late the book is.
What about a nonfiction book where the book proposal is accepted, the completed book turns out to be bad, and the book is totally rewritten by the publisher's editorial staff? That hard example seems to fit with some of the bad-sounding contract terms. I'd say the publisher pay the author in this situation, but less. Does the standard contract do that?
The financial terms described do not outrage me because I would have to consider the overall package, and whether the publisher is making out sized profits. If a low advance is combined with financial terms arranged to prevent making any money from royalties, and the publisher is profitable, yes, that sounds unfair.
-- Some indeed is, as described, wrong:
I'm against restraint of trade. What's happened when authors did switch publishers for their second book? Have they been successfully sued by the first publisher?
-- Some is impossible to judge without being given specific examples where an author has been mistreated:
Quote:
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In some instances, the publisher can even settle a lawsuit without the author's consent and charge the author for the cost of settlement whether or not the author has done something wrong.
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I'd have liked to be given two examples.
As for Amazon vs. publishers, the question is not who is worse, but what would possibly make the situation better, and what would make the situation worse yet.