The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)‘s Contracts Committee has investigated the Kindle contract Amazon posted in February 2008 (for writers wishing to make electronic copies of their books available for Amazon’s new proprietary e-book reader).
The Committee’s nine-page annotation is available as a pdf file from this link. They emphasize that these annotations are presented “solely as an education service to SFWA members. It is not legal advice and may not be relied on as such.” Their annotations do, however, detail many provisions of Amazon’s boilerplate contract which, though seemingly innocuous on the surface, might prove to be massive pitfalls and traps for an unwary author. As with all contracts, it’s best to read it thoroughly before signing it. With this specific contract, several SFWA members with experience in contracts suggest several changes, too.