Your Content’s Children May Surprise You

Surrounded by the written word at the London Book Fair, a panel took time away from the business concerns of publishers working lives in books and with books to consider instead the lives of books.

“Books are the children of the brain,” said Jonathan Swift. Judging by the profusion of published works – books, journals and multimedia databases – in the hundreds of stalls all over Olympia Hall at last month’s London Book Fair, our brains don’t get very much sleep.

Publisher parents aren’t terribly different, in fact, from those parents seen waiting outside grammar school yards or watching around a football field. Publishers promote publications just as parents send birth announcements. Publishers work hard too, just like parents, to ensure these children have the best chance for success.

Editors can choose the original market for a work, yet the content will often end up making its own way in the world despite those plans. For very sensible business and intellectual reasons, publishers are usually fixated on the original intent for their content. As a result, they may discourage or even reject reuse potential when it appears.

Parents expect the unexpected to happen, and so should publishers. CCC’s Chris Kenneally spoke with three publishing executives with considerable licensing experience to learn how to identify and anticipate unrelated potential value locked in existing content and how to be ready to respond when the unexpected does happen. Speakers included –

• Jim Colbert, who Content Licensing in the Americas, and, Rights & Permissions globally, for Highlights for Children. Jim helps education partners, EdTech companies, schools and publishers, discover and license high quality content for use in curriculum, reading programs and assessments. Jim’s efforts have resulted in many thousands of children globally, having access to Highlights eBooks, audiobooks and magazines. Prior to joining Highlights, Jim was Rightsholder Relations Manager at Copyright Clearance Center.
• Nilu Mallory, Head of Asset Management for Dorling Kindersly/DK. Managing all assets used in the publishing process, she is responsible for commissioned images, agency images, fonts and archiving. Her wealth of experience within image management systems, archive and content rights, ensures the efficiencies of assets across DK’s global offices. Prior to working at DK, Nilu managed the rights service for Getty Images, leading a global team, training of the sales force and integrating new acquisitions.
• Jessica Rutt, International Rights and Licensing Manager at RCNi, the premier provider of innovative and creative information solutions for the whole nursing team and associated health professional. Jessica joined RCNi in 2017 and is responsible for licensing content globally to a range of partners. Before joining RCNi she spent more than a decade working at Nature Publishing Group and Springer Nature. Jessica is committed to developing and supporting industry-wide initiatives that serve the academic and medical communities by disseminating research whilst also respecting copyright.