Book Off Offers Sop To Copyright Holders

[Mulboyne]

[floatl][/floatl]Asahi: Bookoff to pay copyright groups
In response to complaints from authors, Bookoff Corp., a large chain of secondhand bookshops based here, has offered to pay 100 million yen to groups representing copyright holders, sources said. Bookoff resells secondhand books in like-new condition. Authors have complained the sales cut into their new book sales and undercut their royalty income. The chain extended its offer to the Japan Writer's Association, the Copyright Network for Comic Authors in the 21st Century and other groups, the sources said. Bookoff operates about 900 outlets, including 10 abroad. It declined to comment on the issue.

[amdg]

So who are the authors going to go after next? Public libraries because the lending of books is cutting into their sales profits?

[Blah Pete]

:rolleyes: So who are the authors going to go after next? Public libraries because the lending of books is cutting into their sales profits?

Probably those guys who pull the old manga & books out of the trach cans at the station and resell them.

[ttjereth]

[Taro Toporific]

:rolleyes: So who are the authors going to go after next? Public libraries because the lending of books is cutting into their sales profits?

Doesn't the UK already have some megafuckqued public library copyright surtax?

http://www.cla.co.uk/

[amdg]

Oh yeah, but not just the UK. Those types of organisations exist pretty much everywhere, but they're aimed at compensating rights holders for the reproduction of the copyrighted works.

What's happening at Book Off is slightly different because we're not talking about the copying of the works, but their re-sale. More like say, you buy a car from Toyota and after a few years you decide to sell it to a second-hand car dealer for half of what you paid for it. The car dealer sells on to a customer for what they bought it for from you, plus alpha. Now Toyota comes a knocking on the used car dealer's door and says, "Hey, when you sold that used car you prevented that potential customer from buying a new car from us. So I think you owe us a little something right?"

The logic is tortuous but you can kind of follow it more with books, because you can argue that the book retains its original value even though it may be second hand, whereas the car does not. It makes even more sense when you talk about a music CD or data file, because even if it's second hand it's virtually identical to the original new product (if it was moderately looked after). But it's not an argument I like to make WRT books though. The doctrine of exhaustion of rights is the controversial key here.

[Mulboyne]

I have a friend who works at one of the leading publishers who refuses to let me even mention Book Off in conversation. Her main objection is that the company refurbishes the books it buys and puts them back on a par with new copies. That's not what second-hand shops used to do. It's frequently possible to buy a book from Book Off and give it as a present which previously was unheard of unless you were buying rare or out of print titles. I can see her point but I'm not sure if you could or even should legislate against the practice although it obviously reduces the royalties to writers. If e-books ever become popular then the whole debate will be moot.

[amdg]

Have you been to a Japanese public library?

Yeah I was at Lawson this morning.

[amdg]

I have a friend who works at one of the leading publishers who refuses to let me even mention Book Off in conversation. Her main objection is that the company refurbishes the books it buys and puts them back on a par with new copies. That's not what second-hand shops used to do. It's frequently possible to buy a book from Book Off and give it as a present which previously was unheard of unless you were buying rare or out of print titles. I can see her point but I'm not sure if you could or even should legislate against the practice although it obviously reduces the royalties to writers. If e-books ever become popular then the whole debate will be moot.

Why am I not surprised by your friend's anger? Publishers are the only big losers in the whole second-hand book business. Most authors make the bulk of their money on the advance, and only get about 5% on the sale of each book (and then only after the publishers have deducted their advance). So unless they go bestseller, the actual book sales figures are not so significant as far as the average author is concerned. Also, arguably, the dissemination of their work to a wider audience via cheaper second-hand sales could even be considered a benefit to them.

So too, consumers also get a great benefit - cheaper books.

Retailers have always made the most profit from the sale of books, and so this is just one more retailer to add to the fray. No news here.