Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
+No protectionist measures?
When Amazon set up shop in Canada they had to buy the books from Chapters because tbey weren't allowed to ship from the US.
To sell ebooks, they have to have deals with the local publishers and distribute those versions, not the US versions.
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Hmmm... I seem to have memories of similar protectionism from the American side of the border. The American publishers would not allow wholesale importation of books from publishers in other countries. On occasion, I seem to remember trips to court in attempts to prevent individuals from importing textbooks though the result for one publisher after the Kirtsaeng decision was to increase their international prices to make importation less attractive.
As for Amazon being forced to buy the books from Chapters? As I recall, they were buying books from publishers who had the rights to the books in the Canadian market whether the publisher was located in Canada, the UK, USA or where ever else and only purchased from Chapters when the distributors were unable to fulfill their orders.
Oddly, Canadian booksellers have complained about for years about import restrictions. To quote an article in the Globe and Mail:
Canadian bookstores should be at liberty to import books from the United States or elsewhere, without being required to buy them by way of a Canadian-based book publisher as the distributor. The trade barrier that now exists, and which raises the prices of books for consumers, should be repealed.
As for protectionism? Donald Trump. 'Nuff said.