Has my copyright been infringed?

[Richardmilton]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

I'm a British writer based in the United Kingdom. I have contracted with a US publishers to publish a US edition of a book already published in the UK. The US publisher has listed the US version for sale on Amazon.com. But he has also listed the U.S. edition for sale on Amazon.co.uk, whose servers are located in Dublin, Ireland.

His action may, of course, be carelessness, or a simple mistake. But I now wish to republish the book in the UK and list it for sale on Amazon.co.uk which is likely to cause some confusion.

Has the U.S. publisher infringed my copyright by listing his American version on Amazon.co.uk? Am I entitled to ask him to remove his listing?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Richard Milton

 

[STEPHAN]

What does your contract say?

 

[Richardmilton]

What does your contract say?

Hi Stephan, The contract says the US publisher has the right to publish and sell the book in the US. It was written long before Amazon or online sales was a factor in negotiations.

 

[STEPHAN]

The contract says the US publisher has the right to publish and sell the book in the US.

So what did the publisher say when you asked him about UK?

 

[Richardmilton]

So what did the publisher say when you asked him about UK?

Without going into a lot of tedious details, I'd like to find out before contacting him, if possible, if his advertising the book on uk Amazon constitutes infringement of the contract. Presumably, from a legal standpoint, it either does or doesn't and I assume this must have come up before for writers on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

[quincy]

Without going into a lot of tedious details, I'd like to find out before contacting him, if possible, if his advertising the book on uk Amazon constitutes infringement of the contract. Presumably, from a legal standpoint, it either does or doesn't and I assume this must have come up before for writers on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is your contract with the publisher that matters. Without knowing what you agreed to as far as publication and distribution goes, it is impossible to say if the publisher has breached any terms of your contract.

Following is a link to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on "Managing Intellectual Property in the Book Publishing Industry" so that you know what is involved with book publishing internationally: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/copyright/868/wipo_pub_868.pdf