Concern is growing in the US over the launch of Amazon's Kindle lending initiative, with publishers fretting over titles appearing in the programme without agreement, and agents worried over how the 'free' loans will impact royalty statements.

Amazon announced earlier this week that Kindle owners who subscribe to its Amazon Prime programme will now be able to download one free e-book a month from a selection of 5,000 titles in the library. According to the Wall Street Journal the new service, called Kindle Owners' Lending Library, is intended to drive Kindle device sales. The books cannot be accessed via apps on other devices, which means it won't work on the iPad or iPhone.

According to the US trade website Publishers Marketplace, publishers and agents were alarmed that some featured titles have been placed in "this new initiative without the consent or affirmative participation of the publishers and rightsholders". It adds, however, that under wholesale contracts providing that each free loan is paid for as a sale by Amazon.com then "there is nothing to prevent them choosing to give those titles away for free, under whatever additional rules they might designate".

Amazon said titles in the Lending Library come from a "range of publishers under a variety of terms". It added: "For the vast majority of titles, Amazon has reached agreement with publishers to include titles for a fixed fee. In some cases, Amazon is purchasing a title each time it is borrowed by a reader under standard wholesale terms as a no-risk trial to demonstrate to publishers the incremental growth and revenue opportunity that this new service presents."

Under agency agreements Amazon would not be able to put a book out for free without the publisher's permission, but so far only the top six publishers are selling e-books on agency terms. The Wall Street Journal reports that none of the six largest publishers in the US was participating in the lending initiative, with PM citing concerns over how the promotion would "empower" one retailer over another.

The Association of Authors' Representatives said it was concerned about how individual authors would be rewarded for the loans of those books for which Amazon does not have to pay a sales fee. According to note on its AARdvark blog there are worries about how publishers who are paid a lump-sum by Amazon for including titles will go about rewarding individual authors.

There is also a debate to be had about whether these 'sales' are to be considered a secondary right, under which publishers would be required to pay a higher royalty rate, possibly as high as 50%.

"The Kindle Owners' Lending Library is a great new benefit for Kindle owners and an entirely new growth opportunity for authors and publishers," said Russ Grandinetti, vice president, Kindle Content. Publishers included at launch with their permission are Lonely Planet, Rosetta Books, and F+W Media. Titles from non-agency publishers such as Bloomsbury USA, Algonquin Books and W. W. Norton are also included but it is not clear if this was done with or without their permission.