Elsevier controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2021
Publishers sue Shopify over alleged textbook piracy
Lawsuit filed
In a lawsuit filed in a U.S. court, five textbook publishers accused Shopify of allowing websites that use its technology to reproduce and sell textbooks and other materials that the publishers allege were pirated or infringed their trademarks. The publishers' allegations are claims made in the lawsuit and do not represent a court determination. The report identifies Shopify as the defendant and describes the claims as concerning websites using its technology.
Five textbook publishers filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court accusing Shopify of allowing websites using its technology to reproduce and sell textbooks and other materials allegedly pirated or infringing the publishers’ trademarks. The allegations are claims in the lawsuit, not a stated court determination.
Company response
Clarification — Shopify
Shopify spokeswoman Rebecca Feigelsohn said the company requires merchants to agree to its terms of service and acceptable use policy (AUP) before signing up.
Source excerpt
In a lawsuit filed in a U.S. court on Wednesday, the publishers allege the e-commerce company allows several websites using its technology to illegally reproduce and sell textbooks, test banks and other manuals that are identical or "substantially indistinguishable" from their products.
The five publishers making the accusations against the Ottawa-based technology company are Macmillan Learning, Cengage Learning Inc., Elsevier Inc., McGraw Hill LLC and Pearson Education Inc.
Shopify spokeswoman Rebecca Feigelsohn said the company requires merchants to agree to its terms of service and acceptable use policy (AUP) before signing up.
2018
Anticompetitive-practices complaint
A complaint to the European Commission alleged that Elsevier's confidential subscription agreements and market position were anticompetitive. The Commission chose not to investigate.
2009
Paid favorable-review request
A marketing email offered academics an online-store voucher for posting five-star reviews of Clinical Psychology. Elsevier said the request was a marketing mistake and that reviews should not be incentivized toward positive outcomes.
2004
Academic criticism of journal pricing
Stanford University's senate criticized the prices of some Elsevier journals and encouraged faculty to reconsider submitting work or performing editorial labor for publishers it viewed as excessively expensive.