Comments on: The DMCA on 7 Print-on-Demand Publishers

By: Hilary

Hilary — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:00:16 +0000

I found this site after another go-round with Amazon, attempting to remove print-on-demand titles legally out-of-print when I ended my account with Lulu in 2009. I too am astounded that there is not more discussion of this subject. The only reason there isn't is that self-published authors are regarded as pariahs by more than one industry.

By: Anne

Anne — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:06:55 +0000

Was browsing through Lulu.com's available books today, and found works by authors ranging from Dr. Seuss to Lorraine Hansberry. I'd suggest that means they're failing pretty badly on the copyright infringement front. I'm quite surprised, though, that it doesn't seem to be more widely discussed. At any rate your site is one of the few places I've found where anyone even mentions the possibility of POD services being used to profit from infringement.

Thanks for the thoughtful review, above.

By: JB

JB — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:46:15 +0000

Charlene: There is actually one big difference between a vanity press and a “traditional” POD publisher.

When one buys a contract at a regular vanity press, they not only have to write, edit and layout the book, but also buy X number of copies. With a POD publisher, they don’t have to do the latter. Every copy of the book they sell is free to them.

So, the way I look at it is like this.

New POD Service: Everything is free.
Traditional PD Service: Pay for everything but copies.
Vanity Press: Pay for copies too.

Hope that helps!

By: Charlene

Charlene — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:28:28 +0000

Aren’t the “traditional POD presses” you discuss really vanity presses? I ask because there is a huge difference between a POD press and a vanity press; the first isn’t a publisher at all but a combination printer and bookstore.

If you publish a book with a POD press like lulu.com, *you* are the publisher. You have to edit, proofread, and format the text for printing using Quark or a similar program; they only print and bind what you give them. If you publish a book with a vanity press, on the other hand, the vanity press does the actual work of publishing.

I wonder if there have been any lawsuits confirming or confounding my theory.

By: Charlene

Charlene — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:28:28 +0000

Aren't the "traditional POD presses" you discuss really vanity presses? I ask because there is a huge difference between a POD press and a vanity press; the first isn't a publisher at all but a combination printer and bookstore.

If you publish a book with a POD press like lulu.com, *you* are the publisher. You have to edit, proofread, and format the text for printing using Quark or a similar program; they only print and bind what you give them. If you publish a book with a vanity press, on the other hand, the vanity press does the actual work of publishing.

I wonder if there have been any lawsuits confirming or confounding my theory.

By: JB

JB — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:46:15 +0000

Charlene: There is actually one big difference between a vanity press and a "traditional" POD publisher.When one buys a contract at a regular vanity press, they not only have to write, edit and layout the book, but also buy X number of copies. With a POD publisher, they don't have to do the latter. Every copy of the book they sell is free to them. So, the way I look at it is like this. New POD Service: Everything is free.Traditional PD Service: Pay for everything but copies.Vanity Press: Pay for copies too.Hope that helps!