While the publishing world learns to live with the idea that e-books may be good for business, after all, a federal district court judge finds there is no such thing as a used e-book.
“To quote OR Books founder, John Oakes, ‘e-books are God’s gift to publishing,’” Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer, tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “That gem was delivered to PW’s own Craig Morgan Teicher, following our panel at last month’s AWP meeting in Boston. E-books are opening up new avenues of art, and not just commerce, Oakes declares.”
Copyright and the courts again figures in the week’s book publishing news. Digital file reseller Redigi came out on the losing end in an infringement case brought against it by Capitol Records.
“Publishers have hailedt his decision as a big win. But it isn’t,” Albanese asserts. “It does further point to how messy copyright has become in the digital age. For one, I think the idea of a ‘used digital file’ is silly. The case illustrates that the market for access to digital content is totally different from the market legacy content providers seek to impose. Publishers would be wise to recognize that while ReDigi might have been dubbed illegal, there is a market void that it has filled.”
Listen here.
