Penguin - And More E-Lending Library Intrigue

I have been posting lately on the intrigue developing among some major players in the digital book selling and publishing industry since libraries have begun lending digital books (e-books).

And there have been varying and interesting points of view RE rather digital book retailers such as Apple and Amazon (now also a digital publisher with it's Kindle Fire) are positioning themselves in the best interests of the consumers, writers, publishers or gadget sellers :))) ... And at whose expense.

Here is a reaction by one major publishing house detailed in this article by Laura Hazard Owen for mocoNews.net (Mobile News):

Why Might A Publisher Pull Its E-Books From Libraries?

Following yesterday’s news that Penguin, citing security concerns, is pulling its new e-books from libraries—and making none of them available for library lending through Kindle—many are wondering why the publisher would do such a thing. (Penguin and Random House had been the only two “big six” publishers to offer unfettered access to e-books through libraries; now Random House is alone in doing so.)

Here are some possible reasons, none of which are “Penguin is stupid and is trying to make itself obsolete”—but all of which are a response to high demand for e-books in libraries, and I might argue that attempts to curtail or impede that demand are, at a minimum, counterproductive.
» Penguin is mad about Amazon’s deal with OverDrive and is retaliating. If you have a Kindle and have checked out a library book on it, you will notice that clicking “Get for Kindle” sends you to straight to Amazon’s website instead of having you check out the book from within the library’s site. Here’s how it looks:


When I click “Get for Kindle,” I’m directed to this page on Amazon’s site (click to enlarge):



Notice anything? Yeah, it looks an awful lot like an Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) shopping page and I have to be logged into my Amazon account to get the book. Publishers Lunch notes, “Though OverDrive had promised in April that patrons’ ‘confidential information will be protected,’ in implementation their program is an engine for turning library users into Amazon customers.” (Publishers Lunch also notes that, since libraries had already bought the e-books from Penguin, it’s surprising that Penguin is simply allowed to withdraw access to them.)

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Amazon's Kindle Library Creates Anger and Intrigue in the Publishing Industry

Through it's Kindle library, Amazon has essentially stolen the rights of writers and publishers to determine usage, pricing and destiny of their creative products.

Please refer to my post on the Publishing/Writing: Insights, News, Intrigue Blog Publishers Are Going To Loose Not Only Their Retailers But Their Authors In The Future for more background on this Writers Welcome Blog post.


By lending new books for free (one per month for Kindle Prime Service) Amazon is undercutting free and full determination of author's creative capital ... and, I believe, violating copyright intent.

Matt Brownell gives great insight on this issue with this article in MainStreet.com :

Publishers Are Seeing Red Over Amazon’s Kindle Library

NEW YORK (MainStreet) – Earlier this month, Amazon introduced the latest perk for members of its $79-a-year Amazon Prime Service: The Kindle Lending Library, which allows Kindle-owning Prime subscribers to “borrow” one book a month, free of charge. It was a boon to Prime subscribers, and in advance of the launch of the Kindle Fire, another argument for joining the retailer’s rapidly growing content ecosystem.


For some publishers and authors, though, the new service looks like a harbinger of doom.

On Monday the Authors Guild, a writers’ advocacy group, became one the first elements of the publishing industry to officially register its objections to the service, blasting it with an extensive blog post that accuses the retail giant of running roughshod over its contractual agreements with publishers.


According to the post, Amazon approached the six major publishers asking them to include their books in the list of available titles, but all six refused. Amazon then went to the next smallest tier of publishers, but when they likewise refused, Amazon went ahead and included their titles in the library anyway.

Paul Aiken, the Authors Guild’s executive director, explains that the major six publishers have “agency model” contracts with Amazon, allowing them to set the retail prices of books sold on Amazon. By contrast, all smaller publishers have “wholesale” contracts, which allows Amazon to sell the books at any price it chooses so long as it pays the wholesale price to the publisher. According to the Guild, though, such contracts don’t extend to actually giving away the books for free.

Still, Amazon will still be paying the wholesale price on each book that’s borrowed through the library, clearly on each individual transaction will be compensated by Prime memberships.

So if publishers are still getting paid, why are they so upset?

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