The new world of self-publishing: it’s not just for vanity anymore!
It’s finally possible–although still hardly likely–to skip the traditional publishers altogether, publishing yourself (via Amazon, for example), and get discovered by fans directly.
Are books — electronic or not — becoming "fringe media"?
Kevin Kelleher of GigaOM believes that “books are becoming a fringe media.” I say: true for non-fiction, not so much for fiction.
Escaping the Kindle lock-box is now easier for authors and publishers
Purchasing books on the Kindle has always struck me as a bit of a Faustian bargain: once you enter the Kindle ecosystem and purchase some books, those books are forever locked to Amazon’s e-reader. Now Amazon has made it easier for small-scale publishers and authors to opt-out.
Moving away from traditional publishers
As I noted a few days ago, there has been increasing attention to the idea of authors moving away from traditional publishers …
Google Books adds open-standard downloads
For anyone using any kind of electronic reader — including a regular computer — this addition to Google Books may well prove quite useful: EPUB as a download format.
Amazon’s Kindle DRM strikes again
With physical books – or even electronic sales – the “first-sale” doctrine applies, and the seller cannot unilaterly reverse the transaction and take back the item (even if they credit the consumer for the price). Nor can the seller in a traditional sales transaction prevent resale, etc. – which Amazon also prohibits.
Will consumers adjust to this new model, or will we rebel and insist on our traditional first-sale rights?
Amazon's Kindle and digital rights management
There have been several stories over the last week about issues related to digital rights management (DRM) on Amazon’s Kindle.
Random House Disabling Kindle Speech
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Random House now disabling text-to-speech function of Kindle e-books: Random House has thrown the dreaded “kill …
Music Pirates in Canada!
“MUSIC PIRATES IN CANADA: American Publishers Say They Are Suffering by Copyright Violations There – Steps Taken for Redress” While this sounds …
Libraries and Fair Use
Simon Chester at Slaw.ca has an excellent article up about World Book and Copyright Day. Of particular importance, I think, is the …
Copyright Fight Brewing Over Amazon's Kindle 2
Copyright Fight Brewing Over Amazon’s Kindle 2 | Threat Level from Wired.com: “They don’t have the right to read a book out …
So Why Hasn't Critical Theory Worked in Law?
I wondered previously why critical theory approaches (like the much-criticized Critical Legal Studies) haven’t had much of an impact on U.S. law …