Ebay Bookseller Sued by Publisher
This is something of a half story, it appears to be confusing to say the least.
Somebody who sells books on e bay is being sued in court by the publisher Harper Collins
This story will be updated, and hopefully clarified when more information becomes available.
The book dealer has been volume selling books for some years on ebay and now finds himself being sued for £80,000 by the publishing house HarperCollins.
They claim he, and I quote from the newspaper:
he has sold thousands of books stolen from its distribution centre
The defendant’s lawyer claims that his client buys his books in good faith and from reliable sources. They quote over 9,000 book sales so clearly a fairly prolific ebayer.
More information is needed but what potentially comes to mind is
Do the publishers have proof of the books origin - if so and they are stolen has anyone been charged by the police rather than privately sued ?
Can you be held responsible for selling something at the end of a supply chain ?
It is entirely possible that I have bought books that have passed through several hands before being offered for sale on the high street before being bought by me - these may, or may not, have disappeared on their way to being disposed of.
Good job I steer clear of remainders nowadays !
Craig said,
January 11, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
Were they remaindered or were they books put aside to be destroyed (put in a skip and sent to be pulped )?
Rod said,
January 11, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
Craig
not sure of the full details, however they were obtained it’s the principal of the publishers action that one has to question.
I cannot help feel they are trying to make a point about their books appearing on ebay.
Rod
A Retired Bookdealer said,
January 11, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
he has sold thousands of books stolen from its distribution centre
Hi ,
If he has supposedly stolen them - how can they be remainders ?
surely its just a case of theft - as such the publisher has taken action on the theft of books .
Will be interesting to read the full story.
Rod said,
January 11, 2007 @ 5:15 pm
ARB
I mentioned remainders rather than them. For the reason, as we both know, you can go into a secondhand bookshop that deals in remainders and buy what appear to be remaindered books - that does not always mean they are !
as such the publisher has taken action on the theft of books
This is the point, anyone stealing them is guilty of theft, anyone just selling them potentially guilty of handling stolen goods. There is no mention of either charge, even if there were - when did you hear of a huge comapny suing someone who has inappropriately sold their goods?
I will post more info when I get it - the above is all I have.
A Retired Bookdealer said,
January 11, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
Interesting , thanks .
What’s also interesting is that most or nearly all of the
remainders - or published just to be sold as remainders.
Are no longer of UK origin,
they are shipped in from China, USA etc by the pallet load
…… just to be sold as remainders
( these are known, I am told - as special editions )
I wonder in the UK, if there is such a thing as a genuine publishers -undamaged remainder ?
Rod said,
January 11, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
ARB
I think publishers remainder less now in the UK, they realise the marketing implications and pulp the books instead.
Most were only fit for pulping in the first place anyway
Rod said,
January 19, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
It can be sometimes surprising who gets to see what you write, hence the importance of getting things correct etc.
People involved or mentioned can and do read these things - especially now as the importance of what may rank well in a search engine can have.
My logs today show a visitor who came from the IP
nyhost.harpercollins.com
I understand for legal reasons they would be unable to comment but some more information on the story would be interesting
Regulars may remember a similar thing before from The Lovely CJ Miles