The future of digital books
29 March 2011
Publishers can survive and even profit from piracy, argues Peter Ollier, as long as they learn the mistakes from the movie and music industries, and focus on innovation
Like many authors, Kristine Rusch has set up a Google alert in her name. Every time one of her books is uploaded onto a file-sharing site, she knows about it. "File sharing is a touchy subject," she says. "I know a lot of writers who are militantly against having this happen".
Authors everywhere are experiencing the mixed emotions of being happy that their book is so popular that people want to download it, but angry that they are doing so illegally. And the opportunities to download illegally are increasing. It has always been possible to scan and copy books, but for years the biggest anti-piracy device was screen glare. The coming of Kindles, Nooks, iPads and Android tablets has changed that and the temporary halt to Google Books (see box) will not stop the growth of the e-book industry.
Is book publishing another obsolete industry, likely to face fiscal annihilation...
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