Self-Publishing News: Overdrive Reveals our Digital Borrowing Habits in Detail
Digital Borrowing - Europe-wide movement of creating enormous flagship libraries. The other story highlights an evolving cultural role of libraries.
Self-Publishing News: AI Agreements and Ongoing Debates Including OpenAI’s Response to New York Times Lawsuit
AI agreements - OpenAI has responded to the NYT lawsuit while SAG is working with AI & US Authors Guild to look into discussing blanket licenses with AI companies
Self-Publishing News: Awards for Indie Authors
It’s always a joy to report on indie author awards where indie writing is truly celebrated. So I’m thrilled to be able to string a couple of such into this piece of news.
Self-Publishing News: Overdrive Reports 662 Million Digital Borrows from Libraries in 2023
The figures Overdrive have just released show that 2023 was another year of stellar growth for digital lending by libraries. The year Overdrive reports 662 million digital lends through Overdrive’s catalogue to libraries. Added to that was a further 253 million that would have been lent but were on a “wait list.”
Self-Publishing News: Mickey Mouse, Tigger, and Lady Chatterley Entered a Bar: You can now decide what happened next thanks to this year’s public domain releases
The 95 year copyright term has finally run out on Disney’s breakout work, Steamboat Willie. Which means Mickey Mouse and companions, as and only as they appear in Steamboat Willie, can now be (and already are) the subject of creative freedom.
Self-Publishing News: Recommend an Outstanding Indie for RSL International Writers Programme
The UK’s Royal Society of Literature is looking for nominations for its International Writers Programme. The programme seeks in the RSL’s own words to “celebrate literary excellence in the global writing community and the power of literature to transcend borders.” Is this the year we will see an indie author take the spot?
Self-publishing News: Litigation or Accommodation: Publishers and AI Companies are Discovering Very Different Ways of Living Together
New York Times sues OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright infringement while Apple offers a deal to Conde Nast
Self-publishing News: From Survey to Spotify: A Year of Indie Author Income
The word of this year for indie authors is income: ALLi's indie author data drop and Spotify's audiobook royalties
Self-publishing News: Don’t Look Back in Anger: A Year of AI
This has been a year when companies have defined the terms on which we are permitted to use AI, and what we must declare when doing so; other companies decided how they would or wouldn’t use AI; when author organizations started formulating AI clauses for contracts, and a whole industry went on strike to curb the use of AI in screenwriting.
Self-Publishing News: Courts Turn the Tables on Tolkien Fanfiction Author’s “Frivolous” Lawsuit
This is the story of fanfiction author Demetrious Polychron who decided to sue Amazon over its Rings of Power series.
Self-Publishing News: OpenAI Signs Agreement to Use Content from Major German Publisher
News media companies are suing Google over its use of AI. Australian creators have made their feelings on AI known.
Self-publishing News: Study Suggests Reading In Print Better For Us but What Does That Mean?
However popular digital formats get, there is something that seems to mean reading in print has never lost its appeal. This new study looks across recent data with some interesting results. But are they as clear cut as they seem?