College textbook maker Pearson eyes NFTs to claim a cut of second-hand sales

NFT advocates often tout the technology's ability to grant the creator a cut of second-hand sales as one of its major attributes. Artists can earn from one of their digital creations years after first selling it. Others are looking at NFTs to earn a buck from the secondary market too, including the publishers of college textbooks.Pearson, which said in 2019 it would focus on digital textbook sales, wants a piece of the action. “In the analogue world, a Pearson textbook was resold up to seven times, and we would only participate in the first sale,” CEO Andy Bird told Bloomberg this week. “The move to digital helps diminish the secondary market, and technology like blockchain and NFTs allows us to participate in every sale of that particular item as it goes through its life."There's an obvious reason why students resell textbooks. They're expensive! Students often have to spend hundreds of dollars on required materials each semester — or even hundreds of dollars on a single textbook. Selling on a textbook when it's no longer needed just makes sense.Turning textbooks into NFTs and banking on the blockchain to track ownership of them (from “owner A to owner B to owner C,” as Bird put it) seems unnecessary, though. Digital rights management already exists and doesn't need to go anywhere near cryptocurrency. Pearson has a $15 per month subscription service for its textbooks as well.Bird could simply be bloviating about a zeitgeisty technology to try and keep Pearson's investors... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2022-08-03 20:10:20 UTC ]
News tagged with: #second-hand sales #nft advocates #major attributes #secondary market #analogue world #makes sense #pearson

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New and backlist titles offering esoteric insight, ancient wisdom, and empowering practices did well during a year of ‘profound uncertainty,’ publishers say. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-27 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette 'moving in the right direction' as it cuts gender pay gap

Hachette UK has released its latest gender pay gap report, revealing that the mean gender pay gap for Hachette UK Ltd dropped by four percentage points from 25.9% in 2019 to 21.9% in 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-26 18:43:45 UTC ]
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IPG Launches In-House Field Sales Team

Beginning May 1, Independent Publishers Group will bring field sales in-house and discontinue using commission sales reps, as it has in the past. The new team will cover the East and West Coasts, as well as the Midwest. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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AAP StatShot: US Adult Book Sales Up 35.4 Percent in November

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-01-25 19:02:26 UTC ]
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Print Unit Sales Soar in Mid-January

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Flipped eye publishing marks 20th anniversary with tour and 2021 list

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-19 07:31:59 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Union, PEN Issue Statements on Powell's Sale of Ngo Book

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Puffin to publish 'eye-opening' true story of growing up with autism

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-13 08:28:31 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-12 01:12:31 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-10 21:35:43 UTC ]
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