Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
As if they could do it, it would be a no-brainer to do it. Since they're not doing it, there must be some reason why they're not doing it. Cost seems most likely, if not in the actual digitisation work (which would need to include proofing), perhaps in the legal aspects of finding out which books they have ebook rights to, and which they don't.
|
1) Digital rights--they don't have the right to digitize their entire backlist, even the early books of series. They may have the right to digitize #1 because it's re-released in paperback when #5 comes out in hardcover, but not have access to #'s 2 & 3.
2) They really are, for the most part, oblivious to how the web works away from corporate sponsored websites. They don't know how to find books on the torrents, and their IT departments have filled their heads with visions of viruses and trojans that will destroy their entire network in seconds if they download anything from an unapproved site. (The IT dept's have done this mainly to keep them from downloading malware from doom while trying to get a free copy of SuperBlasterMegaKill II, or whatever the video game of the week is. And somewhat to keep them from accidentally uploading the company's entire email archives to some torrent somewhere.)
3) The labor that's freely available on fansites, including Gutenberg, is not freely available for HarperCollins or Macmillan--and they don't even know how to shop for the people who do the kind of work they'd need for ebook conversions. If they figure it out, they don't know how to justify the expense; they can't measure the market for products that have never existed.
4) They don't know that there's enough interest to justify it. There might not be--I won't be buying any $9 DRM'd backlist titles, when I could get a used paperback for $2 and scan it myself. (Most people won't go that route--but still won't buy the backlist title instead of a new one.)