Insider's Perspective: Publishing as Embodiment of Licensing: Exploring the Role of Copyright, Part 1

摘要

To understand the importance of licensing to publishing, let's begin by looking backward from the moment that a work gets into the hands or digital devices of the reader, or user. From the reader/user's perspective, the process seems simple: Walk into a bookstore, order online, initiate a download, make a payment, or log in with a subscription, and the reader/user gets possession of or access to the content. But whether that content is available in print or digital form or both, as text or audio, in complete form or abridged, in English or any one of dozens of other languages, and how that content is paid for, even if the price is free, are the result of a series of decisions made by the creators and distributors of the content. Those decisions are embodied in a chain of rights transfers and permissions, all of which are made on the assumption that each entity in the chain is acting with appropriate authority. And the authority exercised by each link in that chain is based on the legal framework of copyright and defined by the terms of license agreements. "Publishing" and "licensing" are not separate concepts; publishing is a particular species of licensing, with its own increasingly varied industry practices that have evolved to meet the constantly changing needs and expectations of the reader/user.