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There are, however, a number of ways that publishers protect
themselves from these threats:
Lawsuits
Typically, lawsuits are handled by either lawyers that are
on the staff of the publishing house or through an outside lawyer that the
publishing house has on retainer. These individuals will handle lawsuits
stemming from consumers and from clients in the publishing industry itself. At
times, authors will file lawsuits against publishing houses because they feel
as though they (or their work) is being misused or they are not being
compensated the amount owed to them. Consumer lawsuits usually originate with
some sort of social issue regarding document content.
Piracy
The publishing industry has a number of methods of dealing
with piracy:
·
Sharing
fake or incomplete documents – One of the best ways to combat piracy is
done by sharing incomplete or fake copies of published works that direct
downloaders to purchase a physical copy.
·
DMCA
notices – Using the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,
publishers can send takedown requests for copyrighted material.
·
Public
relations campaigns – PR campaigns are primarily used to turn public
opinion onto the plight of publishers who are suffering due to piracy of their
works.
The publishing industry as a whole invites problems upon
itself merely by existing. Since they set the prices of books and they are the
group who chooses what kinds of things will get published and which ones won’t,
they become the target from many different groups. Fortunately, there are
countermeasures that they have in place to stabilize their position in the
industry and maintain the chain of creativity that moves from authors to
consumers.