Part III looks at the issues that are under continual scrutiny as digital models emerge. These issues cross over the different publishing sectors; they do not all necessarily impact on every sector to the same degree, but they all raise questions that publishers across fields are having to consider. They have also been grouped together because they remain very much open-ended discussions, constantly changing as the digital business environment speeds up. Because the digital world encompasses increasing levels of convergence, issues previously outside core publishing activities are impinging on publishers more explicitly: books are another form of entertainment and this now needs to be more clearly acknowledged as publishers compete with other sectors; the edges between types of digital environment are becoming more blurred; even the question ‘what is a book?’ has become a point of debate.
The brisk rate of change in the business environment for digital publishing has led to some unusual events that have, in the context of traditional publishing, been quite dramatic. One such event was the action by Google to mass-digitise a huge selection of titles following arrangements that had been made with some of the world’s most famous libraries. This was viewed at the time by some as the freeing of information from where it lay undiscovered on dusty library shelves, while for others it was a mass raid on copyright and a threat to the rights of authors to own their creativity.
Another example has been the debates about various pricing mechanisms for digital products that have emerged with the advent of the large technology companies such as Amazon and Apple; courts have been investigating anti-competitive collusion among publishers, and publishers have accused Amazon of exploiting its monopoly position. These events continue to unfold and, while they touch different parts of publishing to a greater or lesser extent, they are important when examining the environment for digital publishing.
Issues such as these will continue to be debated and publishers are currently considering effective responses. They include:
- Copyright: copyright needs to be flexible enough to cope with the challenges of the digital age. Some question how far it is fit for purpose, while initiatives aim to ensure it can be effectively adapted.
- Copyright infringement and piracy: digital piracy is an issue for most publishers. The high value of reference information means it is a target, as are novels, where sheer quantity of sales are key. Enforcement is necessary but there are other solutions as well to build a stronger legitimate marketplace for digital products.
- Rights sales: while digital rights release more opportunities for sales, they also mean more complexity.
- Pricing: digital pricing is more fluid than print pricing; the issues around agency and wholesale pricing may be short-term issues but the key is to understand the consumer response to pricing; the consumer is becoming much more of a player in the way digital pricing works.
- Content developers: the traditional publishing industry is under attack from new players entering the market for content as the nature of publishing is redefined; these players have money and powerful brands, and enter the content marketplace for different reasons. Can publishers compete?
- Publishing structures: as the industry has to re-evaluate what it is all about in the digital age, while some things remain constant, other aspects of a publisher’s behaviour will have to change, and change quickly. Part III will take a look at the way new publishing structures might emerge from the traditional players in the longer term.