Friday, March 26, 2010

Page Turning Japanese?

A group of 31 Japanese publishers, including Kodansha and Shinchosha, have formed an electronic book publishers association, the Electronic Book Publishers Association of Japan. The new organization will research and collect information on the industry and is aimed at forming a collective view and policies on digital issues. The move also comes ahead of the anticipated release of a Japanese version of Amazon's Kindle.

It aims are laudable and are to; form agreements on the securing of rights and profits for authors; providing convenience for readers; and the coexistence of print and digitalized works. They plan to address contract issues, conduct reader surveys, review the formatting of electronic book data, and research electronic reading devices and software.

The association was formed under the Denshi Bunko Shuppansha-kai organization that operates "Denshi Bunko Paburi," an electronic book retail site founded by 13 companies in 2000.

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