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Patricia · 08-15-2009, 11:17 AM

I'm so sorry, Stitchawl. I managed to misread your initial post and somehow stupidly assumed that you were talking about reselling ebooks.

I think that you raise two issues: the pirated p-books are obviously a copyright violation. The sale of second-hand p-books isn't. I suppose that a person has the right to sell his or her property.

You're right about the author not being recompensed for anything but the original sale.

There are precedents for a different model. Living artists can get some money every time their work is sold, via a resale tax.
In the European Union there is the Artist Resale right (Droite de Suite)
http://conventioneuropeennedesartsvi...tax-67?lang=en
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...es-676515.html
In Australia it applies only to living artists:
http://www.arts.gov.au/artists/resale_royalty

In these cases the law applies only to artworks worth several thousand Euros.
One problem is that it would be very expensive to collect a few pennies in tax on a used paperback.
Libraries in the UK do note the number of times that a book is borrowed so that the author can make a claim for recompense under the Public Lending Right legislation.

If more authors had a tipjar on their websites then I would cheerfully contribute.
I've read all of Barbara Neely's detective novels with great pleasure. They're not in print, so I had to get used copies. And it would be nice to have a way of showing my appreciation in a concrete way.

08-15-2009, 11:17 AM	#4
Patricia Reader Posts: 11,504 Karma: 8720163 Join Date: May 2007 Location: South Wales, UK Device: Sony PRS-500, PRS-505, Asus EEEpc 4G	I'm so sorry, Stitchawl. I managed to misread your initial post and somehow stupidly assumed that you were talking about reselling ebooks. I think that you raise two issues: the pirated p-books are obviously a copyright violation. The sale of second-hand p-books isn't. I suppose that a person has the right to sell his or her property. You're right about the author not being recompensed for anything but the original sale. There are precedents for a different model. Living artists can get some money every time their work is sold, via a resale tax. In the European Union there is the Artist Resale right (Droite de Suite) http://conventioneuropeennedesartsvi...tax-67?lang=en http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...es-676515.html In Australia it applies only to living artists: http://www.arts.gov.au/artists/resale_royalty In these cases the law applies only to artworks worth several thousand Euros. One problem is that it would be very expensive to collect a few pennies in tax on a used paperback. Libraries in the UK do note the number of times that a book is borrowed so that the author can make a claim for recompense under the Public Lending Right legislation. If more authors had a tipjar on their websites then I would cheerfully contribute. I've read all of Barbara Neely's detective novels with great pleasure. They're not in print, so I had to get used copies. And it would be nice to have a way of showing my appreciation in a concrete way.