By Edward Nawotka Magazine publishers News Corp., Time Inc., Condé Nast, Hearst and Meredith, are forming a consortium and funding a project to create “a reading application, a ‘robust’ publishing platform, a digital storefront for consumers and a new line-up of ‘immersive advertising opportunities,’” says the Financial Times. The project will launch next week, says The Guardian. Though products, such …
German Buch News: New Alternatives for German Digitization; Buch.de’s Sales Up
By Siobhan O’Leary Projects to digitize library collections, like Europeana, have found new life after the Google Book Settlement, but the debate has continued in Europe about the status of “orphan works”—books that are not yet in the public domain but whose rights holder cannot be determined. Though those books are currently not allowed to be digitized, Buchreport writes that the …
What’s the Buzz: Merkel Concerned About Online Copyright; Schmidt Wins German Book Prize
By Edward Nawotka On the eve of the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear that she’s uncomfortable with the proposed Google Book Settlement. Speaking in her weekly video podcast, she expressed excitement about attending the Fair, while adding that “The German government has a clear position: copyrights have to be protected on the …
What to Expect at the Beijing International Book Fair
By Edward Nawotka BEIJING: Trying to take in the totality of Chinese publishing is a lot like sitting down to a Chinese banquet and trying to figure out what to eat first. With thousands of publishers, both state sponsored and independent, putting out some 300,000 titles each year (about the same number as in the US), there’s a lot on the …
Global Trade Talk: Europeans Balk at Untranslated Google Settlement
By Siobhan O’Leary and Ed Nawotka The Börsenverein, along with numerous other European publishers, associations and international publishers, has put together a statement of objections against the Google Settlement. Buchreport.de summarizes the statement, which notes that the complicated 334-page Settlement was never made available in foreign languages for foreign class members to review. The objecting parties also point out that …
Top US/UK Trade Talk: EC to Rethink Internet Copyright Rules; 60% Sales Spike for Lagardere
By Edward Nawotka The European Commission is looking at ways to alter existing copyright law to make it easier for users to post digital copies of “orphan” works — those books with no apparent copyright holder. The new proposals “could also make it easier to acquire a single digital copyright covering the European Union, rather than having to deal with …
The Most Hated Book Down Under
Editorial by Andrew Wilkins MELBOURNE: Australia is a nation of booklovers, but you won’t find many fans for a new Australian paperback, ISBN 9781740372817. In fact, there’s an argument for saying it’s “Australia’s Most Hated Book.” That’s because it’s a report by an Australian Government think-tank, the Productivity Commission, which recommends (among other things) the abolition of the copyright protections …
Bonus Material: Take Our Survey on Australian Copyright Reform
By Andrew Wilkins There is no time frame set for the proposals made by the Australian Productivity Commission to alter copyright protections, as outlined in our lead article, to become law. The next step is for Australia’s Assistant Treasurer to consider the proposal, which he’s indicated he’s in no hurry to do. The ruling Australian Labour Party has announced a …
Top US/UK Trade Talk: B&N’s New Ebook Store, Copyright Earns $$$
By Edward Nawotka The big retailing news so far this month in the US has been the launch of Barnes & Noble’s ebook store, which will offer 700,000 titles for sale (a half million of those are public domain titles via Google). By comparison, Amazon offers approximately 300,000 titles, but does not break out public domain works. In conjunction with …
New AAP Prez Prioritizes Anti-piracy
NEW YORK: When Tom Allen took over as President of the Association of American Publishers, his chair was still warm. Pat Schroeder, the former Colorado congresswoman sat in the same chair from June 1997 until April 30 of this year and gave Allen just one month to get up to speed before she took off for Florida and “to sail …