Ebook Vendors Anticipate Big Five Licensing Terms Becoming More Flexible

After years of expressing concern about the potential impact that library lending might have on consumer sales, major publishers have good cause to take another look at the library market for ebooks, according to executives from library ebook distributors OverDrive, 3M, and Baker & Taylor. U.S. consumer ebook sales experienced 3.8 percent revenue growth in 2014 to reach $3.37 billion, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) StatShot Annual survey, released in June. (In comparison, revenue for print books and journals rose 4.6 percent, to $27.9 billion.) While 3.8 percent growth is certainly respectable, it’s a far cry from the doubling ebook sales experienced from 2010 to 2011. They almost doubled again from 2011 to 2012, before flattening in 2013 and rising slightly last year.