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.