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Contributed articleCopyright Clearance CenterNew Licensing Solutions for aChanging Publishing IndustryBy Michael Healy, Executive Director, International RelationsCopyright Clearance CenterAs digital technology continues its steady transformationof the book market, we have seen in recent years manynew companies entering the industry to grasp the opportunitieson offer, and many new alliances being formedbetween those new players and traditional publishers.One interesting consequence of these developments hasbeen the recognition among established and experiencedpublishers that there are significant opportunities to licensetheir content for republication. In turn, these newentrants have begun to learn—many for the first time—the challenges associated with securing permissions touse previously published content, whether it is text, illustrativecontent, or video. As the global e-book marketplaceevolves, we are seeing a growing need among new contentdevelopers to obtain permissions to re-use contentfrom established publishers, as well as directly fromauthors, and an expectation that the permissions processshould be quick, automated and otherwise trouble-free.As many publishers will readily admit, the task of securingor granting permissions has not always been a hassle-freeexperience. The process has often been slow, timeintensive,manual, costly and inefficient, and one importantconsequence of this has been to place significantpressure on tight production schedules and budgets. Asnew types of digital products have proliferated—especiallyin the field of education—the problems have intensified.It’s fortunate in these circumstances that licensing,like the publishing industry it serves, is also changing veryquickly and that there are many new services in the marketto help publishers—old and new—grant and secure permissionsfor republication more easily, more efficiently,and more cost-effectively. Such services are not only facilitatingthe many new types of permissions required bynew forms of publishing. They are also helping to eliminatemuch of the difficulty traditionally associated with thepermissions process, and making it simpler for contentowners to exploit the licensing revenue opportunities thatcome with the availability of new types of products andnew market channels. Everyone—those seeking permissionto re-use content and those granting permission touse it—benefits when the process is simplified and whenas much as possible of the inefficiency and delay is eliminated.Those looking to secure permission to re-use previouslypublished content know exactly what they want.Some want to get permission for all the rights they needin a single, completely transparent online transaction andthereby avoid going through the labor-intensive and costlyback-and-forth of rights negotiations.Those selling rights also have clear requirements. Naturallythey want to secure the highest possible revenue for theircontent, but they often want more than that. They wantpricing control and flexibility. They want as much automationas possible and sometimes, when it’s appropriateto do so, they want to outsource some or all of the work toa trusted and experienced partner in order to relieve someof the pressure on already over-burdened permissionsstaff.Copyright Clearance Center has a direct interest in theseissues. Since it was formed in 1978, it has had a very clearThe Global eBook Report 55