"I wrote a book that sells for $17.95. Amazon.com has always advertised it for 30 percent off. Now, the Web retailer is offering online access to every page of my book for free. I like the idea, though the copyright lawyer in me is a bit uneasy about it...."

"The company says it has agreements with 190 publishers to publish their books' actual pages online. But I've not heard of Amazon asking for permission from the books' authors, and, as an author myself, I can say for certain that neither Amazon nor Random House directly asked me to participate in this feature...."

"The more interesting issue is whether Amazon needs permission from us authors or even, for that matter, from our publishers themselves."

The column is up for discussion in the GigaLaw.com forums.