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Exactly. But this bonehead wants to argue that it's "presumed illegal" to sell them for what they cost: almost nothing.

by aaplsux 14y ago

biot 14y ago
If you're paying a $3 royalty to the rightsholders per copy sold, then the marginal cost is at least that plus minor distribution and transactional costs. If you sell the e-book for $2.99, that's below marginal cost.
- belorn 14y ago
  But that is not what the comics argue since they are attributing it to DOJ guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property. There is not a single reference to marginal cost or copyright infringement in that document. The guidelines focus around market power, and competitive prices. Contrary to the comic, the guidelines do to define what an competitive price is, or public goods, or systems goods, or the effect of supply & demand on IP. The closest we get is a statement that market power exist if the consumer can not get the product beyond from a single source. If someone edited the Wikipedia article about IP and used the same wording as the comic, it would get reverted with the comment ("Does not exist in source").
  - biot 14y ago
    > There is not a single reference to marginal cost or > copyright infringement in that document. Did we read the same document? These references are from http://www.abajournal.com/files/AppleAmicusBrief.pdf http://www.abajournal.com/files/AppleAmicusBrief.pdf Page 2 panel 2: Woman: "Oh, because of illegal downloading." (aka copyright infringement) Page 3, panel 2: Woman: "Who said Amazon was a predator?" Man: "The DOJ did in their own complaint & CIS. Amazon sold e-books below marginal cost." Page 4 panels 1 & 2: Woman: "So, how does all this help solve the case?" Man: "You see, when Amazon lowered e-book prices below its marginal cost..." Man: "... any conduct that raised them back to marginal cost could not have harmed consumers."
    - ryanmolden 14y ago
      I believe he was referring to the "DOJ guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property" not the comic. I'll assume he means this: http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/0558.htm http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/0558.htm
      - biot 14y ago
        You're most likely right and I misunderstood. Thanks for the link.

Exactly. But this bonehead wants to argue that it's "presumed illegal" to sell them for what they cost: almost nothing.

by aaplsux 14y ago

Exactly. But this bonehead wants to argue that it's "presumed illegal" to sell them for what they cost: almost nothing.

biot 14y ago

If you're paying a $3 royalty to the rightsholders per copy sold, then the marginal cost is at least that plus minor distribution and transactional costs. If you sell the e-book for $2.99, that's below marginal cost.

belorn 14y ago
But that is not what the comics argue since they are attributing it to DOJ guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property. There is not a single reference to marginal cost or copyright infringement in that document. The guidelines focus around market power, and competitive prices. Contrary to the comic, the guidelines do to define what an competitive price is, or public goods, or systems goods, or the effect of supply & demand on IP. The closest we get is a statement that market power exist if the consumer can not get the product beyond from a single source. If someone edited the Wikipedia article about IP and used the same wording as the comic, it would get reverted with the comment ("Does not exist in source").
- biot 14y ago
  > There is not a single reference to marginal cost or > copyright infringement in that document. Did we read the same document? These references are from http://www.abajournal.com/files/AppleAmicusBrief.pdf http://www.abajournal.com/files/AppleAmicusBrief.pdf Page 2 panel 2: Woman: "Oh, because of illegal downloading." (aka copyright infringement) Page 3, panel 2: Woman: "Who said Amazon was a predator?" Man: "The DOJ did in their own complaint & CIS. Amazon sold e-books below marginal cost." Page 4 panels 1 & 2: Woman: "So, how does all this help solve the case?" Man: "You see, when Amazon lowered e-book prices below its marginal cost..." Man: "... any conduct that raised them back to marginal cost could not have harmed consumers."
  - ryanmolden 14y ago
    I believe he was referring to the "DOJ guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property" not the comic. I'll assume he means this: http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/0558.htm http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/0558.htm
    - biot 14y ago
      You're most likely right and I misunderstood. Thanks for the link.