Amazon's War With Writers, Publishers

Article does not explain details of the dispute.

[From article]
The struggle between the retailer and the publisher is ostensibly over the price of e-books but really over profit margins and, ultimately, the future of publishing. The conflict, which is unlike any in recent publishing history, has inflamed tensions across the literary spectrum. It began six months ago and appears unlikely to end any time soon.
Some repeat Campfire attendees who have supported Hachette in the dispute say they were not invited this year. Others say they are having second thoughts about going. The event has become as divisive as the fight.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/technology/a-writerly-chill-at-bezos-fire-.html?_r=0

A Writerly Chill at Jeff Bezos’ Fire
By DAVID STREITFELD

SEPT. 20, 2014

Trusts For Digital Content

[From article]
Most digital content exists in a legal black hole. “The law is light years away from catching up with the types of assets we have in the 21st Century,” says Wheatley-Liss. In recent years, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Indiana, Oklahoma and Idaho passed laws to allow executors and relatives access to email and social networking accounts of those who’ve died, but the regulations don’t cover digital files purchased.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-inherits-your-itunes-library-2012-08-23

Aug. 23, 2012, 4:57 p.m. EDT
Who inherits your iTunes library?
Why your digital books and music may go to the grave
By Quentin Fottrell

Libraries and Digital Books

[From article]
"OverDrive proposed a new contract that would raise administrative fees 700 percent by 2015.

In June, the Kansas state librarian and attorney general announced their intent to petition OverDrive for the right to terminate its contract. Kansas asserts that it owns the e-books it licensed and has the right to transfer them to a new service provider. To make sure, the state asked permission of 168 publishers. If the publishers dispute their request, Kansas will have effectively spent $568,000 for books it will no longer be able to access.
[. . .]
HarperCollins. In February, the publisher incurred the ire of librarians nationwide when it put a cap on the number of times libraries could lend their titles — after 26 checkouts, libraries would need to purchase the title again at full price. In the wake of this decision, more than 60,000 people signed a petition against HarperCollins, and many libraries openly boycotted purchasing their titles, digital and otherwise.
[. . .]
In Newport Beach, California, construction for a "bookless" public library is underway. As the Los Angeles Times reported in April, patrons will order books by speaking into a video camera; librarians in a remote location where the books are stored will then send the books to Newport Beach for pickup at a later date.
[. . .]
in two thirds of the country, libraries are the only place to access the Internet for free. In other words, the public library of 2011 has become the last refuge for the technologically disenfranchised.
[. . .]
Boston Public Library received a grant to buy Kindles in order to lend them to the general public. With e-books on their way to becoming widely accessible, libraries will be free to move more of their resources into digital materials, shed personnel,"

http://thephoenix.com/Boston/arts/124475-will-kindles-kill-libraries/

Will Kindles kill libraries?
In this corner: libraries struggling to bring in patrons. In the other: Kindles looking to expand their market. Will it be a bloodbath, or can they hug it out?
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON
July 27, 2011