Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 1 Access to Learning Materials in Southern Africa: Integrating Intellectual Property Rights and the Development Agenda CISA, SAUVCA, CTP Sunnyside Park Hotel, Johannesburg January 2005

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 2 The “Death of the Book” and the Perils of ePublishing Julien Hofman Dept of Commercial Law, UCT

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 3 Death of the book-???-!!! Traditional view –Libraries are about books (meaning hard copy books) –Online material is convenient for reference, archiving in sophisticated libraries but not for private users –Online material cannot replace hard copy books for ordinary readers

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 4 But publishers have a different view –Publishers are in business to make money and are interested in sales not books Book publishing is risky –The bigger the print run the lower the cost of the book –The bigger the print run the bigger the loss if the book does not sell –Publishers hate warehouses full of books and the risks and expenses

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 5 Publishers are only waiting for a popular technology that will allow them to sell books online to private users as well as libraries to stop printing Comparison with music – emusic and etunes can coexist with hard copy music because cost of pressing a disk is small –Not so with cost of printing a book

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 6 \ Technology already exists for books –.pdf, Microsoft and Overdrive all supply the DRM –Ebooks, ereader sell ebooks –3 million ebook sales in doing_well_sa.html doing_well_sa.html doing_well_sa.html Publishers are just waiting for “killer” hardware for books similar to Apple’s iPod

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 7 From eReader.com website eReader is the most popular, and easiest to use, free software that allows you to read eBooks on your handheld, laptop, desktop computer, and Symbian Smartphones. eReader is the most popular, and easiest to use, free software that allows you to read eBooks on your handheld, laptop, desktop computer, and Symbian Smartphones. Our award-winning eReader software is packed with the features that readers want. You can adjust the size of the type, add bookmarks and notes, and it remembers where you stopped reading so you can return to your favorite title at the exact place you left. Our award-winning eReader software is packed with the features that readers want. You can adjust the size of the type, add bookmarks and notes, and it remembers where you stopped reading so you can return to your favorite title at the exact place you left.award-winning award-winning You simply tap on the screen to turn the page. What could be easier? –What easier than sitting in a chair reading from a cellphone?

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 8 Results of the death of the book The changeover to ebooks can be viewed as simply a change in technology resented only by luddites But it does create some issues that need to be addressed Will look at 4 of these issues

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 9 1 st Issue Archiving important materials Preserving information for future –National Library of SA Act 92 of 1998 has broad aims and functions and speaks of “information” but also of “published documents” –Legal Deposit Act 54 of 1997 requires “publisher” to deposit copies of works

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 10 No provision for legal archiving for material published electronically such as material published electronically by NGOs and academic institutions Sad story of the Constitutional Assembly Database Could be addressed by regulations or by invoking provisions on critical databases in Chapter 9 of ECT Act

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 11 2 nd Issue Plagiarism “Copy and paste” mentality encouraged by primary and secondary school “projects” Blurring of distinction between copying and research Growth of incidence of plagiarism in academic work including graduate research and lack of originality

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 12 3 rd Issue “Searching” and “reading” Teachers have always complained that students don’t “read the question” Electronic format makes sophisticated searching possible No need to read the whole argument in a book, article or judgment Return to “comprehension” tests?

Julien Hofman, UCT, 2005 Perils of ePublishing 13 4 th Issue Quality control ePublishing is inexpensive because, once DRM software in place, author can do most of the work It becomes worthwhile to epublish books that will not sell in numbers that would justify physical printing This makes a critical approach by reader to ebooks even more important This makes a critical approach by reader to ebooks even more important