The Guardian: ‘It’s been a rollercoaster’: how indie publishers survived – and thrived – in 2020. “Six months ago, independent publishers Jacaranda and Knights Of were warning publicly that their income had fallen to almost zero. They weren’t the only small publishers struggling. With bookshops and distributors closing, a survey from the Bookseller at the […]
Reuters: Google signs copyright agreements with six French newspapers. “Alphabet’s Google has signed copyright agreements with six French newspapers and magazines, including national dailies Le Monde and Le Figaro, the U.S. tech company said in a post on its blog on Thursday. The announcement follows months of bargaining between Google, French publishers and news agencies […]
Irish Times: Broadcasting regulator launches Irish media ownership database. “The site… was commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) from the Dublin City University (DCU) School of Communications. It allows the public to check the ownership of a database of media businesses that serve Irish audiences at either national, regional or local level, including […]
Global News: Canadian publishers call for collective bargaining with Google, Facebook. “News Media Canada — which represents newspaper publishers including the Globe and Mail, National Post publisher Postmedia, Toronto Star publisher Torstar, La Presse and Quebecor — says the two web giants have established an effective duopoly in the digital ads market that’s starving Canada’s […]
Wired: Publishers Worry as Ebooks Fly off Libraries’ Virtual Shelves. “After the pandemic closed many libraries’ physical branches this spring, checkouts of ebooks are up 52 percent from the same period last year, according to OverDrive, which partners with 50,000 libraries worldwide. Hoopla, another service that connects libraries to publishers, says 439 library systems in […]
The Nation: Publishers Are Taking the Internet to Court. “The trial is set for next year in federal court, with initial disclosures for discovery scheduled to take place next week. The publishers’ ‘prayer for relief’ seeks to destroy the Open Library’s existing books, and to soak the Internet Archive for a lot of money; in […]
Internet Archive Blog: Judge Sets Tentative Trial Date for November 2021. “This week, a federal judge issued this scheduling order, laying out the road map that may lead to a jury trial in the copyright lawsuit brought by four of the world’s largest publishers against the Internet Archive. Judge John G. Koeltl has ordered all […]
Poynter: This database shows media layoffs caused by the coronavirus. “The graphics of 2020 are grim ones — flattening the curve of the coronavirus, watching it spread, seeing jobs disappear. Now, we have another — what the pandemic has done to newsrooms in the U.S. Thanks to the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia […]
Publishers Weekly: Publishers, Internet Archive Propose Yearlong Discovery Plan for Copyright Case. “In a joint filing last week, attorneys for the Internet Archive and four publishers suing for copyright infringement proposed a discovery plan for the case that would extend for more than a year. The filing, known as a rule 26(f) report, lays out […]
New Daily: ‘Heavy-handed threats’: ‘Scare campaign’ could backfire on Facebook and Google in Australia. “Facebook has threatened to pull the plug on Australian news if forced to pay for it, in what experts say is a ‘desperate’ attempt to avoid setting a global precedent. Australians could be barred from sharing local news content on Facebook […]
The Rappler: How Asia Pacific publishers push back vs Google, Facebook. “Publishers created several country-wide and regional associations or consortia, where members pool their audiences into one large audience to rival tech giants’ reach and scale in their respective nations. These cooperatives, through a platform, also offer a one-stop-shop for advertisers. They also offer advertisers […]
Bangkok Post: Google slams Australia law forcing tech giants to pay for news. “US technology giant Google went on the offensive Monday against an Australian plan forcing digital giants to pay for news content, telling users their personal data would be ‘at risk’. Australia announced last month that firms like Google and Facebook would have […]
Sydney Morning Herald: Google and Facebook face fines and algorithm transparency under new code. “Google and Facebook will have three months to agree to revenue-sharing deals with Australian media companies before independent arbitrators intervene under a new landmark code designed to tackle the market power amassed by the US tech giants. Draft laws unveiled by […]
Sydney Morning Herald: Google, Facebook seek publisher deals ahead of ACCC ruling. “Google and Facebook are pushing ahead with plans to strike licensing deals with local publishers as Australia’s competition regulator prepares to unveil a compulsory code that will force the tech giants to pay for use of news content.”
Digiday: Slack is fueling media’s bottom-up revolution. “When media executives have to put out fires, they meet staffers where they live — on Slack, the enterprise software service where employees communicate, plan, gossip, talk shit about bosses and each other — and increasingly, organize themselves to fight for their rights. The irony of Slack is […]