CHRISTOPHER KENNEALLY: Besides the Google Book Settlement, you mean? Under ordinary circumstances, that would be plenty, considering the case may qualify as the single largest and most important class action lawsuit affecting the book publishing industry in U.S. judicial history. However, we don’t live in ordinary times. There are lots of worries and plenty of angst over “orphan works” (books, films, etc., that don’t have an immediately locatable owner) as well as the licensing and permissions challenges presented when so much content is available online and can be made instantly ubiquitous with a single keystroke. There have also been a spate of recent lawsuits regarding the scope of rights in author-publisher book contracts (particularly about whether those older contracts cover e-books as well as print books).
Matt Steinmetz is the publisher and brand director of Publishing Executive.