Allison Bone writes in the Bookseller about a rampant problem in the publishing industry here and elsewhere: the fact that advance reading copies can be sold on the open market even though there's that not-exactly-handy "not for resale" tag slapped on every one of them:

"It's a bloody outrage," says one major publisher, "and is something we are looking at very seriously. It clearly states on our proof, 'not for sale', and we do not believe the majority of these proofs are second-hand but [that they are] coming directly from the source--either booksellers or newspaper reviewers."

eBay is a major hub for proof sales, and sellers there are very much aware of the irritation publishers are feeling. "Everyone is highly nervous at the moment because of the fairly severe threats coming out of publishers," says Graham Littlefield, who runs Witch Spell Books, an eBay shop with the best part of 1,000 proofs on sale as well as new titles.

Littlefield says he has been contacted by HarperCollins' legal department, which "expressed in very strong terms that they do not wish me to sell any of their proofs."

The problem is, ARC-selling is a real murky area legally, and there may not be much publishers can do to stop the practice:

PA chief executive Ronnie Williams explains: "Briefly, while a publisher might give out a proof copy on a 'not for sale' basis, if that copy passes to a third party by any means other than sale--and many of them do--there is an unresolved question as to who then 'owns' the copy in question if it is put up for sale thereafter by the third party to whom it has passed . . . that would in the first instance determine whether the original publisher has any legal claim over it."

So what can publishers do? Well, they can try the same trick William Morrow did with Neil Gaiman's ANANSI BOYS:

At least one major publisher is considering numbering its proofs as a way of tracing them, and prosecuting where necessary. Williams believes the proof issue is something for publishers to resolve internally. "What publishers are doing is reviewing internal contracts. Whereas in the past, reps got a couple of copies free, now they are writing into contracts 'thou shalt not sell this on'."

Publishers are also keen for online retailers to police their own sites. "It's clear that for every proof sold, either as a collectable at some huge value or as a second-hand paperback, there should be a full or discounted sale where the money goes through all the legal channels," says one publisher. "It's also clear that the onus must be on the retailer running the site, for example eBay or Amazon, to police and enforce any legal/copyright responsibilities, and that it is not good enough simply to say the responsibility is with the individual seller."

But eBay points out that, although it has 1,000 people who work to ensure that everything listed on its site is legal and within its policies, "and that there is nothing unpleasant going on", there are around three million items listed on its site at any one time. It is therefore impossible to "tick off" items one by one as they are listed.

Ultimately a lot of the concern is mere hemming and hawing unless publishers can track the following: how many people who buy proofs on the open market end up buying finished copies of the book? Because my own experience -- yes, I have bought ARCs, though not in years -- is that if I get an ARC, I want to own the book once it comes out. Why? Because it's nice to have both. And too often the ARC isn't the final version so I'd want to see the end result, anyway.

But is it a real concern? Have any egregious stories? Share all with us.