Quote:
Originally Posted by rkomar
Some publisher paid money to get the distribution rights in their area. If people there buy the books from some other publisher, then the one who bought the rights is going to get a bit sore and start wondering if what they got is worth what was charged. The whole system starts to fall apart if the distribution rights get watered down. So, both sides do their best to keep things working as expected for them. People buying books from anywhere they like is bad for the business of regional distribution rights.
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The publisher really only pays author on sales. They may pay an advance, but the author only gets royalties when the advance is paid off.
The publishers agreed on a world carve-up, mostly for English language. Often it means reduced royalties for authors as not all publishers will take up the author.
It's the geo-limiting that should be illegal, on anything, physical or downloads. It's at root a Cartel-like behaviour.