Archive for 2010
March 7, 2010
BTB #159: It’s 2010, Do You Know Where Your Copyright Is?
At the recent Tools of Change conference, Outsell lead analyst Ned May launched a report on “The State of Copyright in the Digital Age – What Is A Publisher to Do?” The number-crunching yields 370 billion “information sharing events” in a single year across the US, with a projected loss of $2 billion in licensing revenue.
Yet the biggest surprise, as May sees it, is what hasn’t changed since the last survey in 2005, when Facebook, Twitter and even YouTube were non-players. “E-mail is still number one.”
March 5, 2010
Best of BTB: OnCopyright 2010, Where Ideas Collide (Not People)
When it comes to typical conferences on the topic of copyright, four forces – technology, society, law, and the arts – interact to generate a charged debate. Conference organizer Bill Burger tells Chris Kenneally that OnCopyright 2010 will be different. For this “Collision of Ideas,” there will be a conversation rather than a confrontation.
“Many people get very charged up about copyright issues, and I think that leads to the stalemate that we’ve been witnessing,” says Burger. “It’s a little like what we see in Washington. People are unable to have a real conversation because they get their defenses up.”
Presented by Copyright Clearance Center, the all-day program comes to New York City’s Union League Club Wednesday, March 10, 2010, and features appearances by Google’s Bill Patry; author David Shields; and Australian video artist Pogo, among many others.
“Pogo is going to talk about his ideas around creativity and the art of appropriation,” Burger says, explaining that the artist creates challenging but entertaining videos (such as the one below) from well-known Hollywood films. “His work has the market effect of making people want to see the original work – it certainly has done that for me.”
Registration information for OnCopyright 2010 is here.
For all conference news, and live updates throughout the day’s programs, follow BeyondTheBook on Twitter at #oncopyright2010
February 28, 2010
BTB #158: Waiting for Disruptive Change in Scientific Publishing
As Michael Clarke sees it, the reports of scientific publishing’s imminent demise are much exaggerated. The long-time STM editor and pundit has written extensively on the hardiness of this particular species of publishing even at a time when so many other related areas are withering.
Reprising a recent contribution to the Scholarly Kitchen blog, Clarke tells Chris Kenneally that “new technologies, along with others not even yet imagined, will undoubtedly transform the landscape of scientific communication in the decade to come. But I think the core publishing system that undergirds so much of the culture of science will remain largely intact.”
February 26, 2010
BTB #157: Cory Doctorow Plays ‘The Price Is Right’ For E-Books
Sounding more like a college economics professor than a bestselling sci-fi author, Cory Doctorow offers his suggestions for how publishers should arrive at the “right price” for e-books. As for copyright, he defends “fair use” and questions strict interpretations of the phrase, “all rights reserved.”
For publishers, authors and their readers, 2010 will likely go down as the year when e-books finally and decisively won a permanent place in the literary hierarchy. At Beyond the Book, we’re following this story from a number of angles, and we will continue this special coverage in coming weeks with a focus series on e-books available on BlogTalkRadio.
Meanwhile, our regular reporting on the publishing and media industry continues here at Beyond the Book.
February 21, 2010
Best of BTB: What Makes a Book a Book?
For publishers, authors and their readers, 2010 will likely go down as the year when e-books finally and decisively won a permanent place in the literary hierarchy.
At Beyond the Book, we’ve followed in recent weeks a number of angles in this important story: Covering issues from the pricing wars with Amazon and Apple, to the formatting conundrums facing authors and publishers. We will continue this special coverage in coming weeks with a focus series on e-books that debuts Wednesday, February 24, at www.blogtalkradio.com/BeyondTheBook with an interview with copyright commentator and industry iconoclast Cory Doctorow. Our regular reporting on the publishing and media industry continues here at www.beyondthebook.com where the e-book series will also appear on its own channel.
To set the stage, we bring back Dominique Raccah who asked many of the important questions to be confronted by publishers and authors in her keynote address to the 2009 PubWest Conference. Months ago, she gave early hints at finding opportunities in “digital products” beyond e-books, from iPhone apps to software. Understand “what you are expert at [and] which communities are you connected to,” she advised. Raccah also cautioned the audience to be on the look-out, though: “At what point does something stop being a book?
February 18, 2010
BTB #156: Report: ‘The State of Copyright Age’
Traveling this weekend to New York City for the sold-out “Tools of Change (TOC 2010)” publishing industry conference? Consider putting on your schedule Copyright in Motion featuring Ned May, Director & Lead Analyst of the research firm Outsell.
Monday, February 22, at 9 a.m., May will release his latest report, “The State of Copyright in the Digital Age.” It’s packed with statistics on the use and sharing of copyrighted information, with some surprising findings, as well as “Five Essential Actions” for publishers to put in place today that can help them protect their intellectual property assets. Ahead of the presentation, May told Chris Kenneally that shifts in perception around “sharing” are cause for concern – and consolation – for publishers of all sizes.
The rise of “social media” – a topic May examines in depth – will also get a close examination on Tuesday, when CCC’s Edward Colleran hosts a panel discussion, “Rethinking Copyright for the Digital World,” with Rafat Ali of paidContent.org; Sree Sreenivasan, technology evangelist and Dean of Student Affairs at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism; and Eric Schwartz (Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP).
For more information on the “Rethinking Copyright for the Digital World” panel, please download this session overview.
February 14, 2010
BTB #155: The Printed Word: ‘A Technology’ like all others
In an interview recorded last month at Digital Book World on the morning before Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad, Evan Schnittman tells Chris Kenneally that even in a world dominated by bits and bytes, “Print is not going away. Print is a different metaphor, it’s a different technology, but it’s still a very, very, very high demand technology. What we’re trying to figure out is whether there are [business] futures that involve print and digital? Or will it be just print? Just digital?”
All that’s certain for publishers and authors in 2010, Schnittman observes, is uncertainty. “I think the seas are brisk and perhaps even stormy,” says the Oxford University Press VP of Global Business Development, “but we’re not heading into iceberg territory. We’re heading into unchartered waters.”
February 12, 2010
BTB #154: Before Google ‘Fairness’ Hearing, Wasoff Reviews Latest
A class action lawsuit of historic scope. An Internet Goliath. Thousands of authors, publishers and other rightholders. National governments and multi-national corporations. These are the ingredients of a dish called the Google Book Settlement. First announced in October 2008, the Google Book Settlement returns to the table on Thursday, February 18, when the main course is served in a “Fairness Hearing” before Judge Denny Chin in his New York City federal district courtroom.
As we have done from time to time over the last year, Copyright Clearance Center invited attorney Lois Wasoff, our house expert for the Google Book Settlement, to take a close look at the very latest developments in the case and particularly, objections and comments filed regarding the “Amended Settlement Agreement” (ASA). She spoke with Chris Kenneally on February 12, and gave her unique perspective on the challenge raised by the U.S. Department of Justice’s statement: “The United States believes that the Court lacks authority to approve the ASA.”
February 10, 2010
BTB #153: From the Frontlines of the E-book Wars
Ten years ago, when the “Big Bang” of online media gave birth to rudimentary e-readers, devices like the Rocket promised the moon but didn’t quite deliver. Today, the e-readers have proliferated in a kind of arms race underwritten by Sony, Amazon, Apple and even media giants like Hearst. There are nooks and Kindles, Plastic Logic QUEs, and Skiffs, and of course, the iPad, introduced just weeks ago to a breathless world by Steve Jobs.
The devices themselves, though, aren’t much use without the digital books they are meant to display. The real fight still lies ahead, and will be not over customers, but over content.
Recorded live with a national online audience and caller participation, this special report covers breaking news from the front lines and battlefields of the e-book wars. Chris Kenneally interviewed the leading journalists and analysts who are covering this first break-out story of the year in publishing, including
- Andrew Albanese, features editor at Publishers Weekly
- Sara Nelson, Books Editor, “O” Magazine
- Brian O’Leary, Founder & Principal, Magellan Media Partners
- Mike Shatzkin, Founder & CEO, The Idea Logical Company, Inc.,
This special program was made possible in part by OnCopyright2010: The Collision of Ideas. Coming March 10 to the Union League Club in New York City with special guests William Patry from Google; Gabby Darbyshire of Gawker Media; and many more. Registration information at oncopyright2010.com.
February 8, 2010
Live Webcast: From the Frontlines of the E-book Wars
From the debut of the iPad to MacMillan’s challenge of Amazon’s pricing model for Kindle book downloads, the news in recent weeks on the multiple fronts in the electronic publishing revolution has raised many questions and heightened concerns for the future of our industry. Without any doubt, E-books Wars is the first break-out story of the year in book publishing. And we can expect it to remain a leading headline-maker throughout 2010.
As host and producer for “Beyond the Book,” I take seriously our commitment at the non-profit Copyright Clearance Center to serve authors and publishers with innovative licensing solutions that lead to expanded markets and systems that facilitate content reuse. The Beyond the Book series strives to be a premium resource for knowledge on the latest business issues facing today’s dynamic publishing industry - from initial research to final publication, and beyond.
On Wednesday, February 10, from 2 to 3 p.m., I look forward to hosting a special live streaming edition of “Beyond the Book” that will look at all sides of the e-book story and what future battles in the e-book wars may bring to the print and digital marketplace.
Joining me will be the leading journalists and analysts who have been covering the war:
- Andrew Albanese, features editor at Publishers Weekly
- Sara Nelson, Books Editor, “O” Magazine
- Brian O’Leary, Founder & Principal, Magellan Media Partners
- Mike Shatzkin, Founder & CEO, The Idea Logical Company, Inc.,
Here’s the really exciting part for me. On Wednesday, for the first time at “Beyond the Book,” we will take your calls at 1-646-378-1949. With my panel and your help, I plan to peel back the layers of this complex story in the search for clarity.
Thanks in advance for joining me on Wednesday, February 10, at 2 p.m., on our new Live Webcast page or our channel at BlogTalkRadio. But if you can’t be with us “live,” remember that the show will be available shortly after it ends in our regular podcast series, too.
You can learn more about this and other stories at the Beyond The Book Facebook page and Twitter feed. You can also follow what the publishing industry has to say by clicking on the #ebookwars hashtag on Twitter.
Cheers,
Christopher Kenneally
