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 hailed 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.”
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Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.
In Europe, of course, the court has recognised the first sale doctrine in respect of software and downloads legal purchased. Hopefully the US will follow suit if the courts there are able to sever their allegiance to the big business moguls!
Some ignorant judge claiming something does not exist does not make it go away. There are used digital files just as surely as there is used anything else. It is unfortunate that we allow such ignorant people to rule us.