Burning down the embargo: The embargo is the absurd practice by which publishers distribute advance copies of newsworthy new books to the media only after individual editors have signed a quasi-legal document denying their right as members of an otherwise free press from reporting or reviewing the contents of such titles. [...]
But last week, as reported in The Observer, a matter that has hitherto been a local difficulty exercising the legal intelligence of a few harmless British publishers became a subject of international concern when the New York Times was accused of 'infringing copyright' by an incensed American publisher of an embargoed title. [...]
In brief, Blair's publisher, New Millennium Press of Beverly Hills, argues that it released his memoir under embargo, i.e. on condition that the book's contents would not be disclosed until after 6 March, presumably so that it could enjoy magazine serialisation.
Faced with this restriction, the New York Times mobilised its vast resources, collective wisdom and journalistic muscle and devised a stunning, but ultimately simple means by which to circumvent the embargo - it ordered a copy from Amazon.
