1 September 2014
As the battle lines harden in the Amazon dispute, Ian Grant argues that no one is in the wrong - that both sides are, in fact, right.
Established authors in the United States and the UK write to Amazon, complaining about Amazon's commercial practices in a dispute with Hachette. Authors in Germany write in similar terms about Amazon's negotiation with Bonniers. In the other direction, an open letter from a number of American authors urges support for Amazon. In France, the same row transmutes into a law protecting independent booksellers. It's all about patronage.