AustLit

'The first time I went to the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2008, I had an appointment with Google. Its stand in Hall Eight was a shiny white pod with no retractable banners or cheap shelving in sight. The pod made a perfect background for the primary colours of Google's then-serif logo set out on its outer shell. Hall Eight was the English-language hall, though perhaps there were replica Google pods in all the other halls; they felt, even then, omnipresent. At our meeting inside the pod I remember talking about the Google Preview function, of which NewSouth Publishing, my employer then and now, was an early adopter. Analogue babes in the digital woods, my colleague Nella Soeterboek and I also discussed the Google Books Library Project, about which we were far more ambivalent. That Google wanted to digitise every book ever published didn't seem like a utopian vision to us. It was more of a statement of intent, the intent being to take over the world.'  (Publication abstract)

'This book will change your life is a phrase to make the eyes roll, especially if you’re a book publisher. It is conceivable that a book’s wisdom and insight might make you fitter or smarter, a better lover, cook or parent. It might make you more empathetic and spiritual, calmer and neater to boot. It might transform your social interactions as your friends start twitching as you drone on about a book’s revelations. Residents of the Land of Literature will argue that the pleasure of serious reading—a noble end in itself—is life-changing enough.'(Introduction)

'Writers, musicians, filmmakers, gamers, lawyers and academics talk about why copyright matters to them – or doesn’t.

'We expect to be able to log on and read, watch or listen to anything, anywhere, anytime. Then copy it, share it, quote it, sample it, remix it.

'Does this leave writers, designers, filmmakers, musicians, photographers, artists, and software and game developers with any rights at all? Have we forgotten how to pay for content? Are big corporations and copyright lawyers the only ones making money? Or are we looking in the wrong direction as illegal downloading becomes the biggest industry of all and copyright violation a way of life?

'In this provocative book John Birmingham, Linda Jaivin, Marc Fennell, Clem Bastow, Lindy Morrison, Imogen Banks, Dan Hunter, Angela Bowne and others fire up the copyright debate like never before.' (Publication summary)