Publishers of books and online texts face a growing threat of piracy and the infringement of copyright. On-line texts can be easily duplicated, and books can be quickly scanned, converted to plain text and transmitted.
As a result, publishers are looking for security systems to protect their work, and they are also seeking legal remedies when infringements are discovered. However, technology that simply prevents copying may not always be the best answer to their needs, because it could alienate their legitimate customers and lose business.
Electronic locks
Ideally, publishers need solutions that support the way their customers use texts. For example, people like to lend books to friends, and buy and sell them at second-hand book shops. Unfortunately, one of the most popular ways for publishers to protect copyright is to lock electronic books so that they can only be viewed on the devices onto which they were originally downloaded. Not only does this stop buyers from passing e-books to friends, it stops them from transferring e-books to various systems  perhaps mobile devices  for their own use.
Rebecca Ulph of analyst firm Forrester is adamant that text publishers should heed the lessons of the music industry and Napster. 'Publishers have seen that you cannot retain 100 percent of control with the Internet because someone will always crack whatever you use. Digital protection that is completely secure is impossible because there is always somebody out there who will take this as a challenge. Once this has happened, the nature of the Internet is that everybody will be able to get it.'
There are a variety of security methods to overcome this difficulty, and they each have strengths and weaknesses. Some publishers are no longer selling e-books outright, but license them for a given period. For materials that require updating on a regular basis this can be a good solution, but to win consumer approval the price will probably have to be much lower than that of printed versions.
Journal publishers are already using this model successfully, while publishers of directories tend to release yearly CDs. At present most publishers charge more for the electronic versions of their work, and Ulph said that publishers using this model may need to add value to attract business.
Ulph said that to attract buyers, adding value should go further than simply linking to newer material, and publishing companies should look carefully at the potential offered by the Internet.
'Building communities around information is important as it will encourage use. There is no need for the publisher to become an Internet service provider because they can outsource this task,' said Ulph.
Another solution would be to use a security mechanism that allows the rights of ownership to stay with each e-book through a digital certificate, which can be transferred. Such a mechanism could be used with books, video, music and software but there seems to be little commercial interest in this approach.
However, even if security mechanisms are in place, publishers may have to set up other systems to police them and identify those who infringe copyright.
Currently, very few publishers have any way of tracking e-books being distributed on the Internet without the proper authorisation. Microsoft Press is an exception. Rather than simply pressuring ISPs to stop piracy, Microsoft Press identifies offenders and then takes legal action where appropriate. However, policing the Internet in this way would probably be insufficient to stop e-books from being regularly reposted, once they have appeared online.
Loss-leaders
Some publishers are taking a different approach, one that actively encourages copying as a loss-leader that will lead to sales later. For example, some are making older material freely available. One publisher making money with this approach is Wizards of the Coast, which owns the rights to a large number of role-playing games such as Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D). Having recently launched the third edition of the AD&D rules, it is making a significant amount of older material freely available in Adobe PDF files from its Web site. Much of that material is being redistributed around news servers, and one individual recently said that they had spent US$250 buying additional material to supplement downloads.
Going direct to the public with its online back catalogue has not stopped Wizards of the Coast from continuing to use its traditional sales channels for distribution.
Forrester's Ulph said publishers should be doing more to analyse the way their customers use their material, and make more use of online channels if appropriate, perhaps to give readers a taste for their products. This could pave the way for later sales.
'People don't buy books on a publisher basis, they buy by browsing,' argued Ulph. 'Although some genre publishing such as science-fiction, romance and niche markets can work on a direct-from-publisher basis, this is due to their appeal to a loyal readership. The situation in broader markets such as general fiction books is not the same.'
