New Machines Reproduce Custom Books on Demand, Chronicle of Higher Education, 12/5/08 Issue

Via Chronicle of Higher Education: New Machines Reproduce Custom Books on Demand:

"If you wonder what the future of book publishing might look, smell, and sound like, head north to the University of Alberta's bookstore in Edmonton. There a $144,000 machine is churning out made-to-order paperbacks at a cost of a penny a page.

It's the Espresso Book Machine, which converts digital files into bound books, one order at a time, in under 15 minutes...

But the machine has limitations. It cannot print just any book. Copyright law limits the books that can be offered, the texts must be PDF's, and it can take days to get a repairman when something breaks...

In addition to the technical restrictions, however, U.S. copyright regulations require that books be in the public domain (which includes anything printed before 1922), or that the copyright holder must grant permission for reprinting. Canadian law offers more avenues for reproduction under copyright, which may explain why two Canadian universities — Alberta and McMaster University, in Ontario — are among the sites using the machine. Printers in Canada must pay a royalty fee of no more than $10 for each copy of an out-of-print book, Mr. Anderson says. The law requires books in print to carry a royalty of no more than 10.3 cents per page."

http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i15/15a00103.htm

Copyright Clearance Center Expands Blanket Pricing Offer - Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/8/08

Copyright Clearance Center Expands Blanket Pricing Offer: "The Copyright Clearance Center, which helps colleges buy rights to reprint journal articles, book chapters, and other material in course packs and for other uses, now offers its blanket-pricing option to large institutions that were previously ineligible. And it has signed up one of the country’s largest universities, the University of Texas at Austin." http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3299&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en