Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Yes, there is all that back catalog tied up by existing contracts. But the contracts aren't forever. Rights eventually lapse and revert. What happens then?
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Dennis
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Correct.
Contracts lapse or get renegotiated all the time.
Electronic rights are now being negotiated separately, too, because many existing contracts did not explictly list them. In the process, the *smart* agents and lawyers are realizing that *language-based* global rights can command higher rates with less effort and a higher return to global players than piecemealing them to 20 regional publishers who may or may not have comparable reach.
Indeed, the smarter established writers are simply refusing to license electronic rights to publishers and dealing directly with retailers.
When it comes to ebooks, the rules of the game are changing.
It is an entirely new business and it is a business where success will come from playing by internet rules, not by 19th century customs.
For all the ill-will many have for them, Amazon is not going to vanish in a puff of smoke any more than Google is. Or Microsoft or Apple or any other successful global player. B&N seems to understand that to compete with Amazon in ebooks they need to match them and then better them.
That means long-term thinking.
It means getting to new markets before Amazon whenever possible (Hello, NookColor! Hello NookStudy! Hello NookKids!) and it means going international ASAP.
Things are only going to get harder in the immediate future, for publishers *and* retailers. The survivors will be those that don't stick their heads in the sand thinking the walls of past practice will protect them. It is going to take boldness and creativity and long term thinking.
B&N seems to have a reasonable plan. They also have a boat anchor holding them back in the form of their B&M past. But they are wisely not letting their past define their future. They're not out of the woods and won't be for years but they at least know which way the wind is blowing and are tacking to take advantage of it.
Odds are, they'll outlast the naysayers.