This is my report and it will give a basic overview to better understand where we stand and what are the motivations driving the actions of publishers I started with gaps in my understanding of how all the pieces fit together, what I will do here is lay it all out in a narrative that you can use it to craft a response that works for you..

1. “Atlas Shoved”
“Publishers”
Dude, What’s Your Problem?
John Taube, MAPLA Presentation, 4/26/2012

2. Typical Patron Experience
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/bfoleary/read-2-is-mobile-and-global

3. Where are we now ?
• Publishers have lost control of the Book
publishing marketplace and their existing
relationships no longer work the way they
used to.
• Consequently, Libraries have also lost control

4. What changed?
• Thanks to web technologies all the traditional
functions of a publisher can now be done by
the author
– Content acquisitions
– Contracts and agreements
– Editorial development
– Production editorial
– Operations
– Marketing sales, and promotion

5. Web Based Author Driven Publishing
• 2 example -videos
– Inkling -- https://vimeo.com/26935354
– Booktype -- https://vimeo.com/36686694

6. Industry Comparison
• Imagine you are the Ford Motor Company and
• Imagine the availability of 3-D printable
aerocar templates on torrents that you can
print at the library, competing with existing
cars.
Source: Digital Books and Flying Cars: Libraries as Collateral Damage: Peter Brantley. Hatcher Gallery Recordings, University of
Michigan Libraries. Presented 3/14/2012. URL: http://inst-tech.engin.umich.edu/leccap/view/gallery1-qs62mnczzu/16965

7. What did the Web do?
• “cut out the middle man”
• Web is famous for driving out intermediaries
between content and consumer.
• We (libraries) are “middle men”

8. On the Web, Books lose their aura
• Books are now viewed as commodities
– “ a good without qualitative distinction”
– “the same regardless of who produces or sells it”
• Books are consumable media just like music,
movies, video games, news, & advertising
• Cheapest way to distribute commodities is via
web

9. Publisher’s Holy Grail
• Publishers need a channel to sell directly to
the reader.
Photo Courtesy of
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/mphg/mphg.htm

10. The Masters of the Web have huge
Advantages as New “Publishers”
• The New Publishers…
– Amazon
– Apple
– Google

11. What Kind of Advantages?
• They already have a comprehensive consumer facing
content distribution platform
• The web is their media, turf, and their marketplace
• They have already mastered selling other content,
music, books, grills, electronics, mail, news
• They are responsible for 60-75% of all online book
sales
• They are making a profit
– They can sell eBooks at a loss to increase sales of their
devices.
– They can give authors pre-pub advances.

12. The New Publishers Viewpoint
• eBooks are just another form of content to sell
on the web that will attract consumers to
purchase other goods and services.

13. The Mechanics of New Publishers
• Amazon, Apple, Google, “purchase” the
eBooks from publishers
• Publishers sell eBooks in “ePub” format.
• Use publishers requirement of a DRM
“wrapper” to prevent re-distribution of
content to their advantage.
– New publishers then add “Special Sauce”

14. Special Sauce?
• New Publishers agree to the DRM wrapper but go
a step further, they add a “special sauce” to the
wrapper so that the eBook is only readable on
their own device.
– Prevents reader from reading it on a competitors
device
– Locks consumer into purchasing future content from
them and drives demand for their device.
• Loss of a standard eBook format hurts
competition (like mp3 for music).
Source: Digital Books and Flying Cars: Libraries as Collateral Damage: Peter Brantley. Hatcher Gallery Recordings, University of
Michigan Libraries. Presented 3/14/2012. URL: http://inst-tech.engin.umich.edu/leccap/view/gallery1-qs62mnczzu/16965

15. Some Publisher’s efforts to re-take the
market
• Digitizing old content (backlist and mid list)
– But still selling it thru current market? - nonstarter
– Must negotiate digital rights with authors/agents
• Outsource components of publishing model
• Alternate publishing models
– All the alternatives are web based, so still not
native to publishers.

16. Publisher’s efforts to re-take the
market - 2
Using Copyright
• Publishing has a business problem. Copyright is a
legal tool, it is not a tool to solve a business problem.
• Copyright does not add value to content
– A works copyright status is not an added incentive to
purchase it
– Authors don’t get bigger advances if their work has a 70
year copyright vs. a 50 year copyright
Source: Can We Have a Rational Discussion About Copyright?: Edward Nowatka and William Patry. Presentation at Tools of Change
for Publishing Conference on 2/14/2012. Slides accessible: http://http://www.toccon.com/toc2012/public/schedule/detail/24466

17. Publisher’s efforts to re-take the
market – 3
SOPA/PIPA/ACTA/CISPA – Anti-Piracy
• High prices for content, low incomes, and cheap digital
technology are the main ingredients to keep piracy a
viable model
• The piracy infrastructure and tools enabling piracy have
proliferated, but there have been no concurrent
increases in income that would allow people to
purchase content.
• The majority of people do not view file sharing as a
serious offense.
• Corporate recourse to combat piracy is typically a
“Raid”
– "It's cheaper to buy cops than lawyers — raids are cheap, but due process is
expensive and slow."
Source: Copy Cultures: Joe Karaganis. Presentation at Tools of Change for Publishing Conference on 2/14/2012.
Slides accessible: http://www.toccon.com/toc2012/public/schedule/detail/22283

18. Publisher’s efforts to re-take the
market - 4
Lock out Library eBook loaning
• Kindle lending library is up to 100,000 titles, for
$6.58 per month and publishers/authors get paid,
each time the item is lent

19. Publisher’s efforts to re-take the
market - 5
Agency Pricing and the DoJ Lawsuit
• eBooks will become dominant format
• Publishers will have little control over whether their
readers chooses e or p books
• Publishers will not be able to create price barriers to
eBook adoption by controlling price
• Price of eBooks will go down in all venues

20. Fickle Finger of Fate - Books
• Distribution of Books via the internet will become
the norm
• Distinction between Books and web pages will
further blur
• Acceleration of eBook adoption
• Books will never be finished
• Books will never go out of print
• Books will exist in a more densely packed media
space.

21. Fickle Finger of Fate - Libraries
• Library’s role as content aggregator for the
public will continue to dissipate.
– Because eBooks and streaming media are not
covered by the “First Sale Doctrine” we will have
less to circulate
• Young people switch media 27 times per hour
– Libraries cannot provide that much content
• The Digital Divide will persist

22. Next Steps
• As Library relationships and business models
are permanently disrupted we cannot re take
control in a marketplace with vanishing
models, partners, and firms.
• We must find a way to generate community
profit from the current disruption found
within our existing networks.

23. Credits
• Digital Books and Flying Cars: Libraries as Collateral Damage: Peter Brantley. Hatcher Gallery Recordings,
University of Michigan Libraries. Presented 3/14/2012. URL: http://inst-
tech.engin.umich.edu/leccap/view/gallery1-qs62mnczzu/16965
• Study: Young Consumers Switch Media 27 Times An Hour: Brian Steinberg. Advertising Age, 4/9/2012.
Accessed at: http://adage.com/article/news/study-young-consumers-switch-media-27-times-
hour/234008/
• Fallen agents - how everything just changed: Philip Jones. FutureBook, 4/12/2012. Accessed at:
http://futurebook.net/content/fallen-agents
• Read2.0 is mobile(and global): Brian O’Leary. NFAS Mobile Workshop Presentation given on 3/16/2012.
Accessed at http://www.slideshare.net/bfoleary/read-2-is-mobile-and-global
• Copy Cultures: Joe Karaganis. Presentation at Tools of Change for Publishing Conference on 2/14/2012.
Slides accessible: http://www.toccon.com/toc2012/public/schedule/detail/22283
• Can We Have a Rational Discussion About Copyright?: Edward Nowatka and William Patry. Presentation at
Tools of Change for Publishing Conference on 2/14/2012. Slides accessible:
http://http://www.toccon.com/toc2012/public/schedule/detail/24466
• Battledecks- Julie Zamostny, Roller Derby suggested names, Thread on Facebook
• 'PW 'Talks to Ann Arbor District Library’s Josie Parker and Eli Neiburger: Peter Brantley. Publisher’s
Weekly, April 3, 2012. URL: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-
books/article/51329-pw-talks-to-ann-arbor-district-library--s-josie-parker-and-eli-neiburger.html
• Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto: Essays from the bleeding edge of publishing: Hugh McGuire, and Brian
O’Leary, Eds. O’Reilly Media., 2012. URL: http://pressbooks.com/about/book-a-futurists-manifesto