Different Ways Publishers are Protecting Themselves

© Melpomene - Fotolia.com

Given the sheer size of the publishing industry, it should come as no surprise that publishers take a number of efforts to protect themselves. There are a myriad of legal issues that are involved with every step of the process. Beyond that, there is always the fear that piracy or other forms of book theft could cut into profits and damage the economic integrity of the industry as a whole.

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.