The NWU Online Activity Center has an open letter to National Writers Union Members on the “Search Inside the Book” program. They say although Amazon has disabled the ability to print the book pages
from Search Inside titles, it is very easy to extract discrete
information from books.
As more people get
broadband access to the Internet, looking up something on Amazon
may become widespread. What is more, pirating of entire books is
now childishly simple. All it takes is spending a little time on
Amazon.com.
The National Writers Union’s Grievance and Contract Division and
Book Division recommend that all book authors consider contacting Amazon with a DMCA complaint and contacting their publisher in writing.
They are also concerned that Google.com is reportedly considering
a book search feature, which they say might similarly infringe writers’
copyrights. They caution Google.com to keep in mind the need to
obtain permission from holders of electronic rights for
distribution of their works.
my vote for most annoying Amazon feature
I agree that this is a dangerous thing for writers of non-fiction. I think the example used of a recipe search is valid and pertinent… I need the recipe now, not in twenty four hours. As a writer, I can relate to wanting to support other writers… but I’d still be tempted to grab the recipe and run. Human nature.
But what troubles me more as an Amazon end-user… how this feature totally skews your search results. Oh, how I wish there were a way to disable it, but from what I can tell, there isn’t. Do a search for “library science” and you’ll get about a million hits. Mystery books. Romance books. Books on entomology. Might as well be doing searches on stop words, which, now that I think about it, I’m not sure Amazon uses.
I think Amazon should have thought twice about this one. Generally, it’s not good for a bookstore to tick off either its shoppers or its suppliers and publishers.
Re:my vote for most annoying Amazon feature
You can use the advanced search to calm down some of those insane search results. From the basic search, it can also help to put “” around your phrase, otherwise it seems to “OR” search within the book.