Report Finds Publishing Rights “Untapped”

In time for last week’s BookExpo in New York City, BISG unwrapped Untapped Opportunity, documenting that more than half of those surveyed were “currently missing out on meaningful rights revenue” as well as frustrations that paper-based workflows and reporting remain costly and ineffective.

In a global and digital marketplace, publishers are seeing the volume of rights transactions grow. Yet the story so far is dominated by confusion and even disappointment, according to a new report from the Book Industry Study Group.

In time for last week’s BookExpo in New York City, BISG unwrapped Untapped Opportunity, documenting that more than half of those surveyed were “currently missing out on meaningful rights revenue” as well as frustrations that paper-based workflows and reporting remain costly and ineffective.

“The Book Industry Study Group’s rights committee report reveals a dichotomy in the rights world between the increasing importance of rights transactions, and the ability of publishers to take advantage of the demand,” reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.

“Publishers said that confusion about who controls which rights has grown, particularly for backlist works, and that clearing appropriate rights to third-party material is massively time-consuming and a cost burden,” Albanese said.

“We talk about copyright and copyright reform a lot on this show, and my impression is that this report suggests some pretty key areas of focus for publishers and authors,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “Indeed, much of the tension we now see in that arena is not only because copyright has failed to keep up in the digital age—although some certainly is—but also because publishers’ systems failed to keep up.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.