Copyright's Invisibility Cloak: Amazon, Hachette, and the Elephant in the Room

Oceans of ink — digital and real — have been spilled lately on the dispute between Amazon and the book publishing group Hachette. The dispute itself is simple: Amazon wants to sell Hachette-controlled books for lower prices than Hachette wants, so Amazon is making Hachette titles harder to buy (through Amazon, at least) until Hachette gives in. What's not so simple is

* Amazon Angles to Attract Hachette’s Authors to Its Side
  By David Streitfeld	
  http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/amazon-tries-to-woo-authors-in-hachette-dispute

  70 comments online -- not one contains the word copyright.

* Amazon’s Power Play
  By The Editorial Board
  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/opinion/amazons-power-play.html

* Books Are Thriving in France
  The French Do Buy Books. Real Books.  (online
  Editorial by Pamela Druckerman
  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/opinion/pamela-druckerman-the-french-do-buy-books-real-books.html