Those who take on the global industry that traps research behind paywalls are heroes, not thievesNever underestimate the power of one determined person. What Carole Cadwalladr has done to Facebook and big data, and Edward Snowden has done to the state security complex, Alexandra Elbakyan has done to the multibillion-dollar industry that traps knowledge behind paywalls. Sci-Hub, her pirate web scraper service, has done more than any government to tackle one of the biggest rip-offs of the modern era: the capture of publicly funded research that should belong to us all. Everyone should be free to learn; knowledge should be disseminated as widely as possible. No one would publicly disagree with these sentiments. Yet governments and universities have allowed the big academic publishers to deny these rights. Academic publishing might sound like an obscure and fusty affair, but it uses one of the most ruthless and profitable business models of any industry.The model was pioneered by the notorious conman Robert Maxwell. He realised that, because scientists need to be informed about all significant developments in their field, every journal that publishes academic papers can establish a monopoly and charge outrageous fees for the transmission of knowledge. He called his discovery “a perpetual financing machine”. He also realised that he could capture other people’s labour and resources for nothing. Governments funded the research published by his company, Pergamon, while... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2018-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers are "missing out" on ebook sales to schools because of the lack of a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Highly-respected media and entertainment executive William G. Tompkins, Jr. has been named president and chief executive officer of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a federation of more than 200 Black-owned ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Andrew Hodder-Williams has been appointed to the role of publishing director at Lion Hudson.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite a troubled print advertising market, publishers still believe in the power of glossy paper and ink: They launched 114 magazines in the first half of 2012. That puts the year roughly on par with 2011, when 111 new titles appeared during the same period, according to online database... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While there has been some grumbling in the industry about the ethics and logistics when literary agents start acting as publishers, many firms are now offering a suite of services in this area. Only a handful of agencies are actually publishing titles by their clients through in-house divisions,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oxford University Press is the first publisher to announce it will be releasing a title... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the fight between Apple, Amazon, the government, and publishers to set prices for electronic books, independents were overlooked. Now, they're banding together and voicing complaints. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2012-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has completed the purchase of creative publishers Applied Visual Arts Publishing (AVA... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Citing budget concerns, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed a $25-billion budget that eliminates almost $900,000 in state funding for its libraries. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has announced £6m of funding for libraries to use on arts and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Education publishers have given mixed reactions to news leaked last week (20th June) that... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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News Corp. board backs splitting company's entertainment and publishing businesses Continue reading at MarketWatch.com
[ MarketWatch.com | 2012-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The chiefs of Europe's publishing houses will meet today (26th June) in Brussels at a round-... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Carlton Publishing Group arts imprint Goodman, which launched in 2009 and is headed by chairman... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers should engage more with consumers by exposing the publishing process, delegates at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Both the number of people who use tablets and usage per tablet user are exploding. But tablet users' appetite for paid apps isn't following the trend. A new study commissioned by the Online Publishers Association found that 54% of tabl ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thirteen novels, including "The Good Earth,'' which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, will be published in ebook format by Open Road Integrated Media. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Erotica is continuing to steam-up acquisition meetings, with 19th July a potential sweet spot as... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After posting significant gains in 2011, the 16 publishers highlighted in PW’s annual Twitter snapshot all continued growing in 2012, showing that the book activity on the social media platform is still increasing substantially. All told, the total number of Twitter followers across all 16... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Literary Press Group of Canada, which provides sales and marketing for 47 small publishers, was relieved to hear Thursday that a government funding cut that would have shut down its sales force has been overturned. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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