Discussion:
I have published a book, and the copyright has been registered (in fact, I received the certificate recently). An online reseller has recently posted misleading information regarding the contents of the book on their Web site. They have refused to remove the misleading information from the Web site. I have asked them to remove the book from their catalogue and so far their response has been to contact their legal department.
Do they have to comply with my request? As the owner of the copyrighted work, which is published through regular distribution channels (Ingram), do I have the right to forbid a particular reseller to list my book in their catalogue? Since the book goes through Ingram, I am not involved in the distribution process.
Answer:
The information about your book would be considered an editorial and as such is protected by First Amendment rights. They may be willing to offer you space for a rebuttal. If the company is an authorized reseller for the publisher, you cannot make them stop selling your book. The schoolyard "It's my ball so play by my rules or I'll take the ball home" cry does not apply in the business world.
Answer:
I was afraid that might be the case. Since I've removed all their referral links from my network of Web sites, they'll have to sell many more copies of my book than they have been to make up for the lost revenue. not that I think that means anything to them, but I at least had that much recourse.
Thanks for the response.