Streaming of books threatens to sell readers down the river

Scholastic is the latest publisher to phase out downloading, meaning ebooks already purchased might become unreadableScholastic, the publisher of such children's book juggernauts as The Hunger Games and the Harry Potter series, announced recently that its Storia ebook shop would shortly be "transitioning" to a streaming model. What this means for its readers is that books they have already purchased might become unreadable. According to Scholastic's website: "The switch to streaming means that ebooks you've previously purchased may soon no longer be accessible." In one of those brilliant physical/digital metaphors that seem to sum up all of the confusion of virtual cultural objects, the site also says: "You may be able to continue using your ebooks by making sure to open them on a bookshelf at least once by 15 October."Unlike some previous depressing episodes in ebook licensing that also hit UK readers, such as Barnes & Noble's shutting-down of its ebook store Fictionwise in 2012, or Samsung's abrupt closure this year of Readers Hub, when many lost not only their books but also their notes and highlights, Scholastic is offering a year to claim refunds on lost books. Given the continued prevalence of digital rights management (DRM) software, intended to prevent digital piracy, this story is likely to continue for a while. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #streaming model #hunger games #ebook licensing #barnes noble

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World Book Day plans reinvigoration for 2012 event

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day to revamp for 2012

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 07/11/2011 - 09:15 World Book Day is set for a 2012 revamp, with new management, branding and digital promotional ideas hoping to achieve more than one million book token redemptions. WBD will return on 1st March 2012—led by children’s marketing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stelling sells his football stories to Headline

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books24x7: Professional Books Go Digital

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon sweetens Prime with Kindle book lending

Is Amazon Prime the best deal in tech? It just may be: Amazon now offers the capability for customers to loan out over 5,000 books for their Kindle or Kindle Fire devices. The Kindle Owners' Lending Library will allow for one book per month to be lent out, and there are no due dates. To borrow a... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Physical book sales slump £12m in October

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Prime Book Lending: Your FAQs Answered

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[ PC World | 2011-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jobs biography sells 379,000 Stateside

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jobs biog sells 379,000 copies Stateside

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Magazine Publishers Look to Where Digital is Booming: The Book Business

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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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