David vs. Goliath
RC: In his decision, Judge Stein did not equivocate. Were you confident that the decision would be in RosettaBooks' favor?
AK: Yes. I so stated to the media on the day the litigation was filed. I am equally confident about the appeal.
RC: What kind of feedback have you gotten from those in the industry since the ruling was handed down?
AK: Since the Association of American Publishers has joined Random House as an amicus on appeal, presumably the larger publishers as a group are unhappy with the author's victory. Agents, authors, intellectual property lawyers, reporters and many employees of publishers have been very supportive.
RC: For you, what is the most tantalizing prospect that e-books offer?
AK: In the classroom, e-books can both expand the number of trade books read dramatically and can level the socio-economic playing field as all schools are armed with appropriate electronic appliances.
RC: How do you see the technology evolving?
AK: The screen experience will get better. The choice of hardware will get both wider and cheaper. The capabilities of the e-reader software will get broader and will include high quality text-to-speech functions and on-the-fly translations.
RC: What do you think will emerge as a profitable business model for the e-book?
AK: Ultimately, there will be a profitable e-book retail price based market, comparable to physical publishing, but with price points meaningfully lower than comparable print editions. The more important profit models are likely to emerge from the unique distribution capabilities which e-books represent—time-limited uses, subscription models and the like. The most powerful of these business models, in my opinion, cannot yet be predicted, except to say that it will happen.
RC: What role do you think will e-books play in the industry 30 years from now?
