Almost overnight, MP3's cult following exploded into a major force to be reckoned with. Record labels and major artists loved the possibilities for instant distribution but were threatened by the rampant piracy. To deal with the dilemma, several music industry groups and technology giants scrambled to author the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), a digital rights management (DRM) effort created to protect artists and music publishers from the inherent dangers of online distribution. By implementing the standards of the SDMI, music publishers secure MP3 files from illegal copying and ensure compensation for everyone involved, from the artist to the online distributor.
Today, the publishers of books and other printed materials are paying close attention to the lessons learned by the music industry. Using industry-standard formats such as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), they're digitally publishing everything from eBooks that can be read on handheld devices to content such as Fatbrain's eMatter, which can be downloaded to a desktop computer. Authors are becoming their own distributors, making articles and books available everywhere from personal Web sites to BarnesandNoble.com. It's MP3 all over again, with words and images instead of music.
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But this time around, the collective owners of this huge repository of intellectual property are planning ahead. By implementing powerful DRM systems from the outset, they're not only making sure that authors and publishers protect their copyrights and get paid for their work, but also that readers have access to a greater diversity of online content. They're also exploring new models of distribution that promise to rock the publishing world as hard as MP3 rocked the music industry.
Adobe is helping to lead the charge with its Web Buy and PDF Merchant technologies, as well as its partnerships with other DRM pioneers such as Xerox and Reciprocal. "Our objective is to provide publishers, distributors, and retailers with a quick and secure route to distribute and sell documents via the Internet," says Joe Eschbach, vice president of Adobe's ePaper® Solutions group.
Looking to publish the next blockbuster novel on the Net? Or just want to talk DRM like an insider? Read on for a primer on the next great rights movement.
Jay O'Rear is a technology writer living in San Jose, California.
