Amazon's New Search Serves Up Recipes

In Garten's experience, people who buy one of her books also buy others. "In terms of giving away a recipe or two from a book," Garten said, "it's nice to be able to sample something before you buy it. And I'm, of course, hoping they like the potato gratin," she added.

The genial host of the television show "Barefoot Contessa" on the Food Network, Garten allows the network to post recipes from each episode on its Web site for a limited time before and after the airing of a particular episode.

When informed that her entire book was online, she changed her tone. "It's as though they were setting up a store next door to mine and giving away everything for free. Why would you come to my store?"

Fran McCullough, editor of the "Best American Recipes" annual series and author of several cookbooks, including "Living Low-Carb," must sort through thousands of newspapers, magazines and books to cull recipes for each installment of her series -- and procure permission to reprint each recipe. "I immediately think for 'Best American Recipes,' that might be great for us," she said.

But then again . . . "As an author, that is really irritating," McCullough added. "Sounds like they deliver it on a plate to your [computer's] printer."

Her "Best Recipes" book series is not among the 120,000 searchable books; her paperback diet book is.

"There's a big question of whether the publishers have the right to allow Amazon to do this," said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Author's Guild, an advocacy group for authors. "Our answer is no," added Aiken, calling the online distribution of books a "very generous notion of fair use."

Under copyright law, "fair use" is an exemption that allows for the reproduction of copyrighted work in certain circumstances without permission from the author. For example, recipes from cookbooks -- generally no more than three to five -- routinely accompany book reviews in newspapers (including The Washington Post) and magazines.

But in recent years, contracts between publishers and authors have evolved to meet the new realities of the online era. Most contracts now contain clauses that allow for all manner of electronic rights pertaining even to technologies not yet invented. Others give publishers broad rights to promote books.

About 190 publishing houses, including many major cookbook publishers, were working with Amazon on Search Inside the Book at its launch. Some of the publishers contacted -- including HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin and Hyperion -- declined to comment on the exact nature of the contractual agreement between author and publisher that legally allows for participation in Search Inside the Book.

"When we acquire rights to the book, we acquire a variety of rights," explains Chapman. "And if we have acquired electronic rights I would imagine that would allow us to do this."

Chronicle Books views Search Inside the Book as a promotional tool, said president and publisher Jack Jensen. "In our contracts, at least, we are free to use material to help market, publicize and promote the book," he explained.

Similarly, Stuart Applebaum, a spokesman for Random House, said, "We would see this as a promotional endeavor."

Since almost all authors' contracts assign promotional and/or electronic rights to the publisher, an arrangement between Amazon and publishers may have been inevitable, but that doesn't mean authors are not having second thoughts.