ePublishing News in Brief – May 14th to 18th, 2012
ePublishing News in Brief – May 14th to 18th, 2012
Court Rejects Motions to Dismiss Class Action Against Apple, Publishers
In a decision that was largely expected, Judge Denise Cote denied motions by Apple and five publishers seeking to dismiss the class action lawsuit brought against them for what the suit contends is fixing e-book prices when they moved to the agency pricing model.
The decision, announced Tuesday afternoon, was made in the consolidated class action lawsuit that was first filed last summer, well before the Department of Justice and numerous states filed their own lawsuits against the publishers and Apple in April. The ruling means the civil suit against Apple and Hachette, HarperCollins Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Macmillan can move forward even though the DoJ and states have reached settlement agreements with Hachette, HC and S&S. Judge Cote is overseeing the civil class action as well as the suits brought by the DoJ and states.
In her decision to let the civil suit move into the discovery phase, Judge Cote wrote that the suit “plausibly alleges that Apple and the Publisher Defendants took part in a conspiracy in restraint of trade, that an object of this conspiracy was to raise prices for eBooks, and that this restraint was unreasonable per se.”
Judge Cote backed arguments made by Hagens Berman, the lead law firm in the class action, that the move to the agency model met the different needs of Apple and the publishers in a rapidly changing marketplace where Amazon was driving down the price of e-books. “The switch to the agency model meant that the Publisher Defendants could control retail prices, whereas the MFN [most favored nation] clauses protected Apple and its 30 percent commission from price competition by other retailers,” Cote wrote.
More about Class Action Against Apple
Publishers try to read the industry’s future
Ebooks are becoming more affordable, but for those in the industry, there’s a price to be paid
There’s a revolution in reading filled with innovative and exciting possibilities underway, but whether the book industry will be able to sustain itself remains to be seen.
Ebooks have transformed the experience of reading – everything from interactive fiction, where readers choose the outcome of a story, to books with embedded links to video or audio is possible. But ebooks have also caused a sea change in the publishing business model.
“There are great things that are happening, but the revenue isn’t following,” said Robert Ballantyne, associate publisher of Arsenal Pulp Press and president of the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia. “What’s happening now is just turmoil and uncertainty. Where we will be in five years, you can’t tell.”
Former Vancouver Public Library city librarian Paul Whitney said the fact that many bookstores are disappearing doesn’t help.
“The bottom line is it’s a mess and everybody’s worried because they can’t yet see the end game,” said Whitney, who has written a number of reports about ebooks as a consultant.
More about Publisher’s Industry Future
Sticks & Stones: The Changing Politics of the Self-Publishing Stigma
Bookselling This Week just reported that brick and mortar booksellers are making it easier for self-published authors to garner coveted shelf space in their stores. With indies crossing into this and other territory usually staked out by the traditionally published, the battle between self-published and traditionally pubbed authors has heated up. Rumor has it, one big-name author even resorted to rallying fans, fuming about the deleterious effect eBooks have had on her income. Another traditionally published author went so far as to refer to self-publishing as “literary karaoke.”
The lines, it seems, have been drawn.
The “literary karaoke” slur notwithstanding, the stakes are less about the quality of indie books and more about the money indies are grabbing from their traditionally pubbed brethren. From the outcry, you’d think self-publishers were stealing and eating their babies—and, in a way, maybe they are.
While traditional publishers have seen an increase in overall profits, their mass-market and hardcover segments have been hard hit by burgeoning digital sales. According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), in 2011 e-book sales rose 117%, generating revenue of $969.9 million, while sales in all trade print segments fell, with mass-market paperbacks plunging by nearly 36%.
As sales decline, industry leaders worry that some houses may focus on the more profitable hardback format, publishing paperback editions of only their highest grossing titles. For conventional authors, especially mid-listers, this would be a significant blow. As Rachel Deahl reports in Publisher’s Weekly: “ . . . the shift will kill the much-needed second bite books get at the marketing and publicity apple.”
If e-books are causing the ruckus, why focus all the ire on indies?
More about Self-Publishing Stigma
E-books not proving to be bestsellers in SA
How to protect e-publishing copyright an unresolved issue, writes Khulekani Magubane
WHILE e-publishing is changing the way consumers in developed countries buy books, SA’s R1,6bn industry has been slow to embrace the digital publishing age.
The arrival of the tablet PC on the market has changed the face of publishing, encouraging the use of electronic reader devices such as Kindle, which have altered the way people consume literature.
Tim Richman, director of Burnet Media, says most South African readers still prefer hard copies over their digital counterparts and that e-publishing has had “a minimal effect” on hard-copy sales.
“I think South Africans are only slowly taking to e-books, but a large section of the reading market still prefers hard copies.”
Mr Richman also says the different devices and formats with e-books could frustrate some consumers because they cannot easily share them.
“The digital world is growing in terms of film, music and e-books. The market needs to adapt to the complications that arise. It is, however, worthwhile for publishers in SA to invest in e-publishing.”
The international digital market is not without its problems, though, and one of them is the system put in place to protect content — digital rights management (DRM). DRM refers to a system used by publishers, copyright holders and individuals to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale to protect their copyright and prevent piracy.
More about eBooks in South Africa
Amazon Createspace Launches in Europe
Amazon has just launched their seminal self-publishing service Createspace in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe today. This will allow authors to publish their books and have them distributed all over Europe and North America.
Amazon Creatspace has been running since 2007 and allows you to make your book available to millions of potential customers by distributing through the Amazon ecosystem and your own eStore, and the Expanded Distribution Channel. Set your book’s list price and earn royalties. Upload completed book files, or use our free tools to prepare your content for publication. On-demand production of your book means you’ll never worry about inventory or minimum orders. The big draw on their program is the “Print on Demand” feature. It basically prints the tangible version of the book as people order it. So instead of buying 1000 copies of your book in printed format and hope it sells, Createspace will only print the books as people buy it
More about European Createspace
Students trial eBooks
GLEN Innes High School has been chosen by NSW Education from all high schools in the state to participate in an eBook trial that promises to revolutionise learning.
One institution from each teaching sector (high school, primary school, TAFE, distance education, etc.) is trialling the Softlink Overdrive service which provides access to 100,000 eBook and 30,000 audiobook titles for students in grades ranging from kindergarten to Year 12.
Glen Innes High School teacher/librarian and self-confessed technophile Kerrie Maxwell, who is coordinating the trial at the school, is enthusiastic about the potential to transform the way children are taught.
She is aware, however, that there needs to be a significant injection of funds to not only implement such a system state-wide but also to provide the necessary training and resources to allow teaching staff to incorporate the electronic tools into their teaching programmes.
As it is the trial is being conducted during the school’s busiest term – term 2 – with surveys and reports to be returned by the start of term 3.
Teachers, students and parents were surveyed on their opinions prior to the trial and will again be questioned at its completion, with students also being surveyed mid-trial.
More about Student Trial eBooks