Do I need a lawyer that specializes in entertainment issues or specifically issues between authors and publishing companies?
Asked on Aug 05th, 2012 on Business Law - Oklahoma
More details to this question:
I am a self published author who retired a title online with an amazon.com company. I signed a contract with a new publishing house for the same book (not self published) to reformat and re-release this book. I have not seen a penny of profit from the amazon company regarding sale of said book which their records state is a grand total of 2. I have however talked to indiviudals who have purchased this book on line and so, pride aside, I do not believe their totals are accurate. Also, after I retired this book from their services, I have sontinued to see it offered for sale. I wrote the company regarding this and asked that they contact me. I got several e-mails stating it was theit policy to continue to let third party sellers offer an out of print title for sale on line. I never saw any profits from a third party buyer and count at least 10 copies offered. Still they refuse to remove it from their site, despite my insisting they do so.
I regularly represent authors in negotiations and litigation with publishers. You will need to rely in the first instance on the terms of the contract that you entered into with Amazon to distribute the work. That contract details Amazon's rights and, perhaps more importantly, your right to audit Amazon's books to determine the accuracy of their sales information. Read your contract.
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