> What I don't see anyone saying is that the fact that if Amazon were to rip someone off, their reputation would be tarnished.
Studios screw over writers all the time. There's a reason that screenwriting is strongly unionized. Studios don't care about their reputation with writers, because a) there's always more writers, and b) the films aren't going to get made without the studios.
Studios especially don't care about tarnishing their reputation with un-represented writers (i.e, writers without an agent), because all the good writers already have representation.
Studios screw over writers all the time. There's a reason that screenwriting is strongly unionized. Studios don't care about their reputation with writers, because a) there's always more writers, and b) the films aren't going to get made without the studios.
Studios especially don't care about tarnishing their reputation with un-represented writers (i.e, writers without an agent), because all the good writers already have representation.