Technology Changes Publisher Business Models

"Bill Rosenblatt, Rights management and the revolution in e-publishing, Indicare, November 21, 2005. Excerpt:

Abstract: Google Book Search and the handful of developments in its aftermath are ushering in the next wave of digital publishing. Discoverability and rendering of copyrighted works on the Internet add up to the most disruptive force to publishers' lines of business at least since the emergence of desktop publishing in the 1980s. Digital rights management plays a crucial role in this e-publishing revolution. In this article, we outline the big changes in online publishing today, and we discuss the role that DRM plays in new online content distribution, discovery, and retail initiatives, and how it should play a role in the future.

From the body of the article:

Developments like Google Book Search show that technology companies have the potential to force dramatic changes to publishers' business models and supplychains. Publishers must realize that once content is out there on the Internet, control over rights is the key to control over their industry's future. If they do not act soon, then Internet technology companies will take over their supply chains, they will be marginalized into lesser relevance in the content world, or both. "

Source: P.Suber. Google could change publisher business models. OANEws Blog (21 Nov 2005) [FullText]