US consumer purchase of international editions

[claudia holland <chollan3@gmu.edu>]

I was recently contacted by a parent who had purchased his 
college-aged child a textbook from an online source. He bought a 
hard copy mathematics textbook through a vendor represented on 
Amazon.com. The online information did not indicate that the book 
was an international edition of a Pearson publication that was 
"illegal" to purchase for use within the US or Canada. When the 
parent received the shrink-wrapped text, there was a notice 
plastered inside the wrapping on the book itself with language 
warning consumers about these limitations of use. The book came 
from Malaysia, apparently, and was advertised at less than 
one-third the cost of the text in the US (~$50 vs ~$180). No 
wonder he bought it.

The parent was perturbed for several reasons: 1) the exorbitant 
mark-up for the same exact book available in the US, 2) the lack 
of consumer information from the Malaysian vendor (& the fact it 
was shipped to the US at all, given the warning), and 3) the lack 
of concern on the part of Amazon.com whose service was being used 
by the Malaysian vendor. As a copyright educator, how does one 
address this dilemma? Students and their parents want to do the 
ethical thing and purchase a work from the rightful content 
owner. In this case, they found out they are being fleeced by 
those who scream the loudest about their distribution rights!

Claudia Holland