Andre Yoskowitz
19 Mar 2012 21:40
A group of Chinese authors has sued Apple this week, claiming the tech giant has been selling unlicensed copies of their ebooks via their iOS App Store.
The 12 writers are seeking $3.5 million in damages for 59 books and three separate lawsuits.
While it was assumed the books were being sold via Apple's iBookstore, the titles are not. They are instead being distributed as apps in the App Store. Many e-books were distributed this way before the launch of the store in 2010.
Apple has said it is looking into the complaints and will respond "promptly and appropriately."
Wang Guohua, attorney for the writers, says third-party devs uploaded the apps, without the permission of the writers. Apple deleted many of the apps in January after a complaint but they were re-uploaded.
Says Wang: "Some developers, with whom Apple has contracts, put them back online again. It is encouragement in disguise, because they did not punish the developers. The developers could have been kicked out. But nothing happened to them."