Why Macmillan was banned from Amazon

[tompe]

Originally Posted by ondabeach

Yes, that is what my understanding of the law is in regards to copyrighted material.

If the contract between amazon and mcmillan had expired then amazon would no longer have the legal right to distribute said copyrighted material. Their contract would have had terms and conditions to cover the redundant stock issue in such a situation (if their lawyers had a clue that is).

That might hold if you are a distributor. But Amazon is currently a retailer so they have bough the books they have in stock from the publishers or from somebody else. So they can do what they want with them.

[DawnFalcon]

If you have a distribution agreement and it lapses, you can't keep on selling existing stock unless the distribution agreement specifically provides you can. Amazon is going to have direct distribution agreements.