Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
But practically speaking, Shaggy, how do you think they might do that?
How could Amazon determine whether or not the uploader has the legal right to sell it? I think that as a matter of practicality, really all they can do is to require the uploader to declare that they have the right, and that's precisely what happens now.
Do you have any suggestions as to what else they might do?
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Start with an actual contract between Amazon & the uploader, requiring signatures, not clicks. Require a notarized statement that the uploader has the legal right to sell the book, with verification of identity. That would discourage casual uploaders with throwaway email addresses.
Make that declaration that they have the right to publish something that will hold up in court if Amazon is questioned for accepting it. Right now, their defense looks a lot like thepiratebay or grokster... "We told them they had to stay legal! We're not responsible if people lie to us!" They're not... but they are responsible for taking reasonable measures to verify that people aren't lying. "Click here to agree" is not enough.
Add some research from Amazon--they should maintain a list of popular works not in the public domain (for their own marketing purposes, if nothing else; they should be seeking access to books not available as ebooks elsewhere). Amazon is not a small company; it should not be a great hardship to establish & maintain a list of 3-10 thousand books that, if attempted to upload, trigger a "verify more details" procedure.
Potentially the list could include a few dozen currently popular authors, and a huge set of deceased authors whose rights are owned by heirs or publishing companies. Requiring verification of those rights, something beyond "yes I say I have this legal right," would prevent future problems like this.
Oh, and shut off the auto-feed from Mobi books that are published in different parts of the world, where the copyright laws are different.