Regulation in Publishing

Regulation in the Publishing industry is multi-faceted, piracy has become a growing concern for authors and publishers alike. Copyright has always been a key aspect of the publishing industry, Cornell University and the UK Copyright Service state that copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years after the authors death. According to the Publishers Association ensuring the author is protected and reimbursed as well as the publisher for taking on the risks and costs of production is vital to the preservation of the creative economy.

One of the most important aspects of the book publishing industry is copyright. The Publishers Association, The Society of Authors, The British Copyright Council, UK Copyright Service, and the International Publishers Association are only are a few of many external associations that have all been developed to support and advocate copyright laws and or fight censorship. Some work through forums and others through representation or awareness.

For example the UK Copyright Service provides online registration for various creative outlets from books to music, websites, logos and much more. The Publishers Licensing Society provides licensing knowledge through clarification and innovation, including royalty distribution to digital licensing.

Examples of internal regulation that Random House UK and Harper Collins implement is a permission policy, that requires written consent from the publisher to allow people to quote one of their books in another work.

Penguin has its own rights website that users can view to keep apprised of all of Penguins Rights news and information. It also has it’s own contracts department to “ensure that it achieves the best possible terms on which to publish [its] books.” Penguin also has it’s own Rights and International Publishing and Licensing Team, this is quite normal for big publishing houses to have regulatory departments within the company. The Rights department focuses on how to “maximize a book’s financial potential” and the IPL team focuses on getting Penguin books or it’s imprints books all over the world. (PENCAREERS09)

Here's a link to many more copyright related associations.