Electronic publishing and digital licensing

Abstract

This chapter outlines initiatives taken by publishers over the years as technology has developed; these included early and unsuccessful experiments with multimedia products in the trade sector with later more successful ventures in the educational and academic sectors. It charts the move of database publishing from CD-ROMs to online services and the move from DVDs for video content to online streaming services. Coverage is given to the powerful video games industry, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the development of handheld electronic devices including dedicated e-readers, tablets and increasingly sophisticated smartphones, all of which may provide platforms for copyright content. Coverage is also given to enhanced e-books and apps, many of which have been produced by publishers themselves, often working with software developers. The chapter flags the increased popularity of podcasts, although these rarely feature complete copyright works. Coverage is given to several legal disputes between the major trade publishers and Apple and Amazon on e-book pricing policies. In the academic and professional sectors, coverage is provided on aggregators which supply curated collections of e-books from a range of publishers to institutions on a subscription basis, with rightsholders normally receiving a share of revenue defined as sales rather than as licence income; this sector has also seen a rise in textbook rental models. Publishers need to acquire a suitably wide range of electronic rights in their head contracts with authors; this chapter provides a checklist of issues which publishers should raise with would-be digital licensees, in particular with regard to payment models, and a list of key contractual points for licence arrangements, whether for verbatim use of copyright content or for inclusion in multimedia products.