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Secondhand Book Sales Anger Copyright Holders

The Asahi Shinbun reports that copyright holders and authors are angry that their books can be purchased secondhand for cheaper than the original retail price, and that a used bookshop chain has actually responded to their complaints with an offer of compensation:

SAGAMIHARA, Kanagawa Prefecture–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.

Do you think it is reasonable for copyright holders to complain about the sale of secondhand books?

22 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - April 2, 2008 at 5:05 pm

Categories: Odd / Strange Tags: Books, copyright, japan, law, news, piracy

Quasi

I think the environmentalists need to step in and weigh how wasteful it is to sell second-hand books for retail price. Most consumers will opt for a brand new book than a second-hand one if they are the same price. This creates waste for those who do not want to keep these books any longer.

Anyone still believe in recycling out there?

http://surrealu.blogspot.com Claytonian

your comment seems a little confused. Typo?
shazzb0t

Uh, I’m pretty sure Book Off doesn’t sell used books for new retail price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Charles_Nguyen Charles Nguyen

Aw, I love Book-Off. The copyright holders had better take the money and leave Book-Off alone.
http://hobbyjapan.blogspot.com/ Timotei

Ah, this is lame. It’s wonderful with a store like Book-off.
the overthinker

This is such bullshit. BookOff was weak.
helical

I can actually sympathize with the copyright holders in this case, though I seem to be in a very small minority according to the polls
Personally, I buy books second-hand only if I cannot find it new in stores or I know the author is already making piles of money from having their works made into movies or animes.
RYO

Consumers and secondhand book sellers who oppose the position of the copyright holders in this case ought to just tell them to Book-Off!
AdmiralNelson

If anything we need to further protect and support the first-sale doctrine.
Copyright is only about the control of the creation of copies. Not the distribution thereof. Copyright shouldn’t be a free meal ticket of unlimitedness for holders. Its there to balance the wants and rights of society versus holders.
Jenn

I suppose they should go after libraries next… Libraries cut into new book sales as well.
Chojiki

What!? Used Second-hand books aren’t being sold for the same price as a new one? Insanity! What has this world come to?
Archaic

While I don’t support the copyright holders here, I do see their issue. Second hand books in Japan tend to be in mint or near-mint condition, and tend to be sold at a huge discount off the cover price (I bought the entire 10 volume series of Kodomo no Omocha for 500 yen, for instance, which wouldn’t even buy me 2 volumes new). There’s no way that won’t cut into sales. That’s somewhat unique to the Japanese market. Secondhand sales in other markets tend to have much lower levels of quality, and/or aren’t sold at anything approaching that level of discount.

Da Kappa

And I suppose that you would be able to find mass quantities of popular books second hand in “brand new” condition at Book Off for pennies on the dollar? Reality is that second hand book shops like Book Off sell second hand books (in other words their inventory is based solely on what consumers sell to them = limited to stock on hand). Not copies of books like shops found in Hong Kong for pennies on the dollar. Big difference if you ask me. Besides; if you “see their issue” does that mean you empathize their point of view; ergo wouldn’t you yourself be an advocate of buying new rather than second hand?

Archaic

While I was living in Japan, I was commonly finding mass quantities of popular volumes, particularly manga, at 1/6 to 1/3 of cover price, in near-mint or better condition.

Just because I might understand where they’re coming from doesn’t mean I agree with them. As I see it, it’s a unique condition of the Japanese market, and something the publishers need to adapt to. The real losers though are authors, not publishers. Their royalty income can be dramatically reduced by this kind of thing. They’ve got even less recourse than the publishers. If Book-Off is really planning on giving the copyright holders something to make up for lost royalties, it really should go straight to them.

http://bonesworld-gooch.blogspot.com/ Bonesdog

I don’t get the copyright holder’s argument at all. In order for the book to be turning up in a second-hand shop, that would mean someone bought it first-hand, and then resold it. So if it was already sold, how does this hurt sales? Doubtless there are some folks out there who will not buy a book new, waiting for it to hopefully turn up in Book Off, but there is no guarantee that will happen and people know it! Plus, it will only turn up second-hand quite a while after the release, by which time there will probably not be huge stocks sitting in the publisher’s warehouse waiting for bookstores to order them.

Basically, consumers who want a specific book will buy it new at the book shop when it comes out or order it through Amazon. Consumers who are looking for something cheap will buy previously-sold books at Book Off. You can’t get specific books at Book Off, you can only chose from what they have. These are two different markets.

helical

The problem is that books can be found promptly in near-mint condition, as Archaic has said above.
That means there is a significant portion of people who may buy the book new, but read it quickly and carefully and then sell it promptly to BookOff for the highest price to cut down on their personal “price of buying new”.
Naturally, this means there is another portion of people waiting a few days for the books to turn up in BookOff and buying it for cheap rather than paying the full price in normal bookstores.

http://bonesworld-gooch.blogspot.com/ Bones

False argument. Books can be found in very good condition, true, but not “promptly”. I browse Book Off regularly, and while the books are cheap and in good condition, they are very often anything but new.

Also, Book Off pays squat for books, regardless of age or condition. Think about how cheap those books are, then think about the fact they need to make a profit, then go and watch for a while to see how many books they actually sell in a day. Or better yet, just try selling them books. Unless you have a huge pile, it’s not worth the trouble. No one goes to Book Off to sell one book – the pittance you’d get back wouldn’t even be enough to get a can of coffee. So much for the “cut down on the personal cost of buying new”.

Most of the people who buy at Book Off or similar shops aren’t making a choice between buying cheap and buying at full price as you suggest – they are making a choice between buying cheap and not buying. So the argument that Book Off is hurting sales of new books through new book shops is fallacious or, at best, the negative impact on new book sales is minimal to insignificant.

the overthinker

I understand that for something BO will sell for 100 yen, they pay only FIVE yen to buy it.
Archaic

It’s probably worth mentioning that I didn’t say they could necessarily be found promptly after release. It’d usually take at least a month before I’d be able to find something in a place like Book-Off or Mandarake after its release (though in the context, I suppose some people here might consider that prompt, now that I think about it). Mostly, I was purchasing older volumes that would’ve originally been released many years ago, though still titles that would still be commonly available in any regular bookstore.

Level3

If I buy book, it gives me the “right”, which I pay for, to own it and use it forever. If I decide that the book I bought isn’t worth keeping forever, because it’s not worth re-reading, or keeping for reference, or keeping just as a fan; why the hell does the author deserve to get a cut of the resale, on what is essentially a sub-standard product? (That standard being “keep it forever”)

Basically you’re going to be leaning toward rewarding the second-rate authors for making throw-away books.

Besides patent-holders of real goods don’t get new royalties if I sell a used PC, or a used car!

But maybe Book-Off should claim marketing fees for allowing people to get exposed to new authors they normally wouldn’t risk paying full price on, through cheaper books. If they like the authors enough, they may start buying the new copies of the latest works of the author.
Da Kappa

For those who support the “copyright holder’s” please explain to me what about libraries? Anyone can read, hear, see, etc . . . any copyrighted product with no financial consequence to the reader/viewer. Does that mean that all libraries in the world need to pay royalty fees or perhaps start charging people who visit libraries?
Codexus

This kind of greedy behavior is seriously undermining what little credibility the current copyright system still has.

What’s the next step? Books printed with a special ink that disappears after a few months so that if you want to read them again you have to buy a new copy? (Laugh if you want, but technology to do just that with DVDs was developed and considered a perfectly reasonable business model by the studios)

If people don’t keep their books, it’s maybe because they are not that great. But I guess it’s easier to blame the resellers.

Secondhand Book Sales Anger Copyright Holders

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