“In a twist of ethical irony, media

custodian Steven Brill’s Web venture

Contentville has repelled many writers,

editors and academics since it debuted

July 5. Writers are claiming that Brill is

selling their copyrighted articles by

licensing them through little-known

library archiving companies that now

want a piece of the e-commerce booty.

The e-commerce site — also funded by

Microsoft, NBC, CBS and Primedia —

promises that readers will rejoice at its

menu of books, articles, TV transcripts

and old speeches, for sale starting at $2.95

each. But creators and publishers are

accusing Brill of turning a blind eye as

partners EBSCO (magazine articles) and

Bell & Howell (dissertations) seemingly

stretched the terms of licensing clauses…” Feed