Listen to the Music: Lessons for Publishers from Record Labels’ Digital Debut Decade

Multimedia EBooks present a tremendous growth opportunity for publishers. Yet, industry executives might be cautious after witnessing the astounding collapse of the record business during its digital transition over the last 10 years. This article looks at what went wrong for Big Music, what lessons book publishers can learn from the recording industry’s mistakes and also some visions of the future. And why digitally, for books—at least—it can’t get here fast enough.     

Copyright complicance in the electronic age: Conceptual issues

This article focuses on several conceptual and structural issues that are central to copyright compliance in the electronic age. It presumes the development of a national electronic network for storing, organizing, accessing, managing, and charging for information. The article first discusses the implications of constructing a comprehensive electronic “highway,” or Digital Library System (DLS), which would link information to the widespread community of users. It then presents the ramifications of a highly decentralized set of subsystems serving rights holders and users, linked by protocols established by the DLS. A discussion of the implications of digital interchangeability for copyright follows. The article ends with an analysis of alternatives to existing intellectual property rights conveyance systems, and concludes that current ownership structures, and systems for conveying rights and royalties, will remain the foundation for copyright in the electronic world. This article appeared in a slightly different form in theProceedings of the Twelfth National Online Meeting—1991, and is published here with the permission of Learned Information, Inc., Medford, N.J.     

Between Two Worlds: Australian Publishing on the Horns of an Import Dilemma

This article looks at the consequences of the 1991 amendment to the Australian Copyright Act, which meant that, for the copyright owner or authorised distributor to attain the right to control imports, it had to make the book available in Australia within 30 days of first publication overseas; and, to retain that right, it had to notify the retailer within 7 days of receiving an order whether it could be fulfilled within 90 days, and then in fact do so (. Accessed 28 June 2008). The article discusses the background to that change, what has happened since and what arguments are marshalled by those in favour of the status quo (restrictions that must be qualified for), and those in favour of a completely open market. The arguments used say much about the current preoccupations of those in Australian publishing. The debate around whether booksellers should be free to import copies of a new book from any supplier willing to sell them boils down to four issues: the availability in Australia of books published overseas; the price of books in Australia; the preservation of Australian publishing; and the protection of the rights of copyright holders. Those in favour of the open market believe that it would improve the first two without diminishing the latter two; those who support the status quo, that changing would bring no substantial benefits, and hurt both publishing and the rights of copyright holders. In summary, the reasons for maintaining the status quo are that things work fine as they are; that Australian literature (authors, bookshops, publishers) would suffer if things changed; and that the publisher is entitled to protect its investment through territorial control of copyright. The reasons for going to a completely open market are that only an open market can determine market price; that booksellers are unfairly disadvantaged competing against online sellers, on whom parallel importing restrictions are effectively not imposed; that copyright holders lose their rights when they sell something, and shouldn’t get a secondary chance to protect their investment; there is already a de facto open market, which unfairly restricts those who obey the law; there is a narrow window of opportunity for selling a book, which the current restrictions don’t serve; and the current situation is a poor compromise that doesn’t achieve the benefits of the open market.     

数字内容产业版权制度建设研究

当前出版产业的驱动力已经由印刷时代的复制件控制权转化到数字内容的传播控制权中.数字出版时代产业链、商业模式也相较于传统内容产业复杂得多,由此带来的版权问题会更多.鉴此,论文以数字出版产业区别于传统产业的最大不同为出发点,分析现有数字内容产业的商业模式,依此探究其涉及产权问题.最后对在数字网络环境下,国际和本土版权法必须得变革,以及产权制度建设等提出了一些建议,以期为我国数字内容产业健康发展提供一定的支持.     

A New Clash Between Human Rights and Copyright: The Push for Enhanced Exceptions for the Print-Disabled

The World Blind Union has become the first non-governmental organisation to succeed in having a treaty on copyright table for consideration as states-owned business at the World Intellectual Property Organisation. This article looks at the controversies surrounding copyright exceptions for the print-disabled, and argues that a new legal framework is needed to help increase the production and movement over borders of literature in an accessible format.     

The Royal Dutch Publishers Association

The structure of the Royal Dutch Publishers Association is described, and its activities are detailed. These include promoting reading, book-buying, and the interests of the publishing industry. The protection of copyright is a major part of these activities. He has been active in the book trade for more than thirty years: in bookselling, the import business, and publishing in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. This article was adapted from a presentation at the seminar “East Meets West: Copyright and the Publisher in a Market Economy”, Hamburg, March 1991.     

An Overview of Canada’s Contemporary Book Trade in Light of (Nearly) Four Decades of Policy Interventions

Canada’s book trade is fascinating not only because it really consists of two book trades—the Anglophone and the Francophone—but also because it is a site of intense and sustained policy interventions designed to foster greater domestic control. Examining the country’s book policies, Statistics Canada data, trade association membership rosters and trade directories, this paper reveals that Canada’s contemporary book trade is characterized by three features: circa 40 years of government interventions in response to foreign dominance; the central role of foreign firms despite these interventions; and the dominance of Toronto and Montreal as domestic sites of book production.     

Steps to Global Licensing Success

The impact of evolving technology on those who create content and those who use it has raised many interesting copyright-related challenges that legislators, copyright experts, authors, publishers and licensing organizations around the world are looking to address. Several international initiatives underway highlight the evolving global copyright landscape, including a report commissioned by the UK government calling for the creation of a “Digital Copyright Exchange.” Through such international efforts—and through the content licensing experience of collective management organizations—the best solutions to the copyright challenges of our time can deliver efficiency to everyone involved.     

中学生数字版权教育的困境与对策研究

中学生作为在数字阅读市场中占有较高比重的用户群体,其版权意识相对薄弱,数字盗版行为频发。与此同时,我国数字版权教育面临版权文化土壤根基贫乏、数字版权市场利益现实抑制和网络传播催化盗版泛滥三大困境。而时代需求和发展导向的深刻变化,如知识产权战略、"双创"政策驱动、大数据时代与人工智能等,也为中学生的数字版权教育树立新观念、转变新思路提供了契机和平台。具言之,教育者应立足实现在教育理念上不添加课程负担与数字版权意识培养并行;在教育内容上数字版权经济化教育与数字版权法治化教育并进;在教育手段上现实书本版权教育与虚拟技术版权教育并举;在教育环境上课堂、家庭数字版权教育与社会数字版权教育并施的教育转向。     

2010: The Turning Point for Chinese Book Publishing Industry

This is the only English language summary report on the major and rapid developments that have taken place in China’s book publishing industry during 2010. The key companies and individuals who have been the change agents are presented in context of the developments in traditional and digital book publishing. The transition to capital investment and shares sold in the major Chinese stock markets is described including specific examples of this completely new business practice. The further dramatic growth of the mobile phone market with related information delivery for publishers is presented with financial data for the past, present and future trends for the installed base. The new roles of the General Administration for Press and Publications (GAPP) is described in relation to the reorganization of smaller publishing companies into groups with outside capital investments. Also, the role of GAPP in relation to the new requirements of copyright for digital and electronic publishing is covered. Very interesting is the emergence of three major players in e-commerce selling both consumer products and books as a form of online department stores. Finally, the emergence of Chinese language publishing as a regional language including the mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan is a welcome new development.     

数字图书馆版权问题解决模式分析

版权问题是数字图书馆建设中面临的关键性问题,文章对现有的几种解决数字图书馆版权问题的模式进行了介绍,并简单分析了这几种解决模式各自的局限性.     

数字图书馆实施DRM的对策研究

简要论述数字版权管理(DRM)技术,认为其可为解决数字图书馆服务所面临的知识产权问题提供解决方案;从数字图书馆各类资源和服务对DRM的开发需求、数字图书馆服务商务模式的构建、DRM开发经费的投入与产出、技术选择和应用以及选择适度的DRM技术方案等方面提出数字图书馆实施DRM的对策建议。     

In from the Edge: The Progressive Evolution of Publishing in the Age of Digital Abundance

The forces for change in the 600 hundred-year history of book publishing have never been more powerful and fundamental than in 2011. Barely 12 months ago, what publishers viewed as “innovation” was the creation of digitized versions of physical books to be ‘consumed’ on e-reading devices. As 2011 begins, that change is largely regarded as accepted business practice, and the edge of “innovation” is moving in more complex directions. Publishing finds itself in the midst of a ‘phase shift’ from the scarcity model of print to a complex, new world of digital abundance. The dimensions of change, moreover, its speed, and its extent are still unknown. While book publishing begins with the creative work of authors, digital technologies are turning the business models inside out. Among the forces for change acting on book publishing, this article examines several phenomena that are working their way in from the edge to the center of the industry, including complex interwoven considerations around container, context, and customer.     

雕版印刷术发明前我国书籍版权保护的相关问题

从署名权、作者稿酬、书籍的复制、古代作者的编辑活动和古代图书市场的出现等方面对我国雕版印刷术发明之前涉及到的书籍版权保护的诸多问题进行探讨。认为我国直到魏晋时期,士人在自己的作品上署名才成为惯例;雕版印刷术发明之前作者们没有真正意义上的稿酬收入;手抄复制书籍现象早在先秦时期就已经存在而且很少被限制;虽然古代学者为校订书籍做出的包括校雠、注释等在内的编辑活动属于二次劳动创作,却得不到封建国家的有效确认和保护;我国宋代出现的现代意义上的版权保护现象与古代图书市场的出现没有必然关系,而是与当时的商品经济发展和士人的个体自主意识增强有关。     

Publishers,United States foreign policy and the third world, 1960–1967

One phase of the United States government's attempts to counteract the Soviet psychological offensive in the 1960s was the forging of a partnership with U.S. publishers. Within that framework, the United States government rectified its tainted record on the international flow of information by legislating the Florence and Beirut Agreements; revised its attitude towards international copyright legislation, sorted out issues confronting the American book industry abroad, and consolidated U.S. government agencies' book activities. The aggregate activities unfolding within that banner culminated in the United States' adoption of the National Policy on International Book and Library Activities in 1967—a policy which was never fully implemented. Those 1960s initiatives constitute a framework for formulating a post-Cold War cultural relations policy. Rosemary Ntumnyuy Mokia earned a Ph.D in Library and Information Science from Indiana University. She has worked as a librarian at the University of Yaounde Library (Cameroon, West Africa) and is currently an acquisitions librarian at Grambling State University.     

Our Digital Future

This article introduces a selection of presentations from the 21st International Rights Directors Meeting held at the 2007 Frankfurt Book Fair It offers an overview of a variety of issues related to negotiating digital rights, in particular, and the development of digital publishing, in general. Topics covered include current business models, opportunities for licensing, and methods for negotiating contracts. Publishers are sanguine about the possibilities; though acknowledge that the digital rights business is still in its formative stages. Agents and author advocates are concerned that digital advances may lead to devaluation of writer’s works. Downloadable audiobooks have already created a new market, though e-books have yet to gain traction and are awaiting a device or software application that make them available to a wide audience.     

The impact of the editorial era on the book in Brazil

Conclusion We are confronted by a great challenge, the role of the book and the digital era. Initially, every change scares us. We have to act with intelligence and creativity so that the scientific progress allows us to move towards a better quality of life. A great virtual library is a good goal, since it is not proposing to burn books, but to make them available to more individual anytime and across the large population of Brazil, as well as global access. To conclude, there are the three important items: the need of a digital database as a comprehensive and standard repository of the academic book. Then there is the maintenance and respect for the preservation of the copyright, in print and in the future for digital books. And, finally, there is subject of the editor’s social responsibility to improve the quality of life. In Brazil, what really is necessary is not only a virtual library, but an increasing number of readers.     

亲子阅读视角下电子绘本与纸质绘本的阅读差异研究

[目的/意义] 电子绘本种类繁多,交互丰富,对学龄前儿童吸引力强。相比阅读传统纸质绘本,学龄前儿童在阅读电子绘本时与父母的交流少。本文对这一现象进行深入分析,并解释以下两个研究问题:其一,当把交互功能降到最低时,父母和儿童之间的交流是否会增多;其二,在阅读传统纸质绘本时亲子交流的内容和行为。[方法/过程] 研究针对5-6岁的学龄前儿童以及其家长设计了实验,实验过程中,采用观察记录和录音两种方法收集数据,并采用扎根理论对数据进行分析。[结果/结论] 实验结果表明,去除大部分交互功能之后,在阅读电子绘本时父母和儿童之间的交流仍然很少。在阅读纸质绘本的过程中,儿童会通过提问和强化故事内容的方式来表达理解故事的需求,而父母不仅关注儿童对故事的理解程度,还关注儿童的阅读能力和阅读习惯。据此,提出一些针对电子绘本阅读和交互功能的设计建议及亲子阅读建议。     

A. P. Watt,literary agent

Today it would be hard to imagine the publishing world without literary agents. But agents are relative newcomers. The first arrived on the British literary scene some time in the late 1870s; A. P. Watt is generally regarded as the first true agent. It was Watt who defined the role and function of the agent and established a standard of conduct by which his contemporaries and successors were measured. Watt’s activities had great impact on the business of publishing and on the types of literature writers produced. In fact, the agent was one of the main factors in the radical transformation of the publishing world that occurred at the end of the nineteenth century. This article looks at Watt’s legacy: it focuses on both the publishing world and the institution of the literary agency. It suggests that Watt was a dominant force in both and that, without him, literary agency might not have prospered so well or so quickly. She studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and received her D.Phil. in 1988. She is working on a book about the British literary agent.