The State of Copyright in the Digital Age – What Is a Publisher to Do?

This report is targeted at publishers and information providers, supplying essential actions for publishers grappling with copyright and how they can better monetize their content. In this era of easy and immediate communication, the perceptions, laws, and practices around copyright and protection of intellectual property are frequently challenged. Outsell conservatively estimates the traffic in information sharing among knowledge workers in the US to be 370 billion events per year – a nearly six-fold increase over our 2005 estimate. This report examines knowledge workers’ behaviors and perceptions around information-sharing and copyright now as compared with 2005. It reviews three keys around copyright - education, enablement, and enforcement - and considers the tools available to publishers for ensuring copyright compliance. The report contains:

- Outsell data on content-sharing behaviors and perceptions within the enterprise based on our surveys in 2009 and 2005;
- Analysis of compliance management and the variance between policy and practice;
- A look at the tools available to enterprises for stewarding copyright compliance and to rights holders for protecting their intellectual property;
- Essential actions for publishers to better monetize their content via copyright.