Albrecht Dürer Bust the Publisher Model

A fascinating article from the Christmas Economist last week on Albrecht Durer who may have been one of the first self-publishers to build a real business.

For Dürer, this was an unusual incident. Then 50, he had been for some years the most famous artist in northern Europe; but he was not in essence a court painter. He thought of such people as “parasites”, hanging round great men, waiting for a commission to fall from the lordly lips. He, by contrast, was an independent businessman. He made his money not by grovelling, but by selling copies of the woodcuts and engravings printed, since 1495, at his workshop in the centre of Nuremberg. He was not even a member of a guild, for there were no artists’ guilds in the city: he was a free individual, unaffiliated, making money and a reputation purely for himself.
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It was easy to meet demand, however high he fanned it. Though the fundamental work, carefully incised in mirror-image with knife or burin on the wood or copper plate, was every bit as laborious as drawing, it could then fly out in hundreds of copies. Dürer or his assistants just inked a wood or copper plate and cranked a lever. Thanks to the printing press he had bought, he was never in thrall to a publisher; his book of extra-large printed woodcuts of the Apocalypse, which had made his fame in Nuremberg, was the first to be both illustrated and published by a great artist.

He could now replicate and communicate his art. In 1520, for example, he sent a whole set of prints to Raphael’s studio in Rome (he had hoped to impress Raphael himself, but the master had just died), and expected prints of Raphael’s work in return. Artists no longer needed to meet, or ship precious works along dangerous roads, to show each other what they could do. Dürer was not the first artist to exploit the joy of the new medium, but he was the most assiduous and influential—and the best.

Patent Approved: Is This A Joke?

Under the title "Can the Publishing Industry Be Saved" was a press release describing a "Method and System for Customized Print Publication and Management." I was curious. I read the press release and it immediately made me wonder how anyone could get a patent for what was described. So I searched for the patent description. This looks to me like custom publishing which has been going on for forever but perhaps I am missing something: Like some thing patentable.

The following is a description of the patent application which has apparently been approved by the US Patent Office.

A method (Figure 3) for creating and managing customized print media through an enhanced content management process is disclosed. A print media customer, which may be an individual or organization, is profiled to determine content preferences (step 122). Profiling may be based on face-to-face or electronic surveys, Internet usage patterns, buying patterns, or other criteria. Content associated with the preferences is obtained and analyzed (step 124). Content affinities, or relationships between the content and other content in a content network, are determined, and may influence the print media produced (steps 128 and 130). A history of the content is maintained, to ensure content is not duplicated (step 126). Both substantive and non-substantive content, such as advertising content, is used. Both the content and layout of the print media can be customized (step 132).

The "steps" refer to a diagram. Further details of the above appear here. The description of the patent includes the following:

This invention provides a comprehensive method for effectively creating and managing customized print media through an enhanced content management process.

Summary of the Invention: In accordance with the embodiments described herein, method comprises customizing print media for organizations and individuals. The information for customization may derive from computer-based applications, internet-based sources, or more traditional, non-electronic survey techniques.

And then lastly,

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Is this yet another example of the USPO inability to guage real innovation versus patenting "processes." Or is PND over reacting?

Quebecor Fails - Update

The banks have stepped in after the Quebecor was placed in receivership early Monday. The Globe and Mail says it best:

A rescue financing backed by parent Quebecor, run by Mr. Peladeau, and restructuring fund Tricap Partners was just too cute by a half for banks that had, until August, been willing lenders. Quebecor World carries $2.5-billion of debt. Mr. Peladeau misread the sea change in sentiment among lenders that has come with the credit crunch.

It is likely that the company will be sold up in the short term as soon as the existing lenders can get as much as they think possible for the debt they own. Existing shareholds - primarily Mr Pelaseau's holding company may get nothing.

Update:
A Canadian judge has agreed to allow the company to seek protection and the company is likely to receive the same protection this morning in New York.

An update and more background from The Toronto Star.

Quebecor Update

A report in the Canadian Financial Post suggests Quebecor's stock may be delisted if the company isn't able to comply with listing requirements that have been specified in a 'terse' letter to the company. Truthfully, this could be the least of their problems since the article believes that existing investors in Quebecor are unlikely to accept the recently announced rescue plan. The existing debtors may be unwilling to allow the company to collapse and will seek to negotiate a better deal for themselves - at least given the circumstances.

Courier Struggles

Courier corporation was the latest printer to forecast lower results. In a statement yesterday, the company said its first quarter profit declined on slow textbook orders and low Creative Homeowner book sales. The company lowered its fiscal year 2008 outlook and as a result the stock price was hammered (but then so were a lot of them). The company reported first quarter net income of $1.4mm versus $4.0mm in the same period last year.

From the press release:

"We were hit by simultaneous challenges on both sides of our business this quarter," said Courier Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James F. Conway III. "In book manufacturing, despite all indications pointing to another full year of strong sales in education, textbook reprint orders were unexpectedly slow this fall, sharply reducing the segment's capacity utilization and profitability even as we continued to gain share. Normally, publishers order textbook reprints during the fall to spread manufacturing workloads throughout the year, but this year a variety of industry factors significantly reduced that order flow. In publishing, Creative Homeowner sales continued to be held back by reduced consumer traffic at home improvement centers, its most important sales channel.

The stock is trading at $26.01 which is a 52week low.

Quebecor in Strife

Quebecor's CEO resigned on Monday in the wake of a failed recapitalization several weeks ago and on the heels of the collapse of their deal to sell their European printing operations. There is now heightened concern that the company could become insolvent in the short term unless their existing banks or primary shareholder provides some additional short term liquidity. There may be little expectation from the banking sector both because the company's access to revolving credit was reduced recently and analysts expectations that Quebecor will miss their liquidity covenants when they announce their next financial results.

Predictably, the markets have identified parties that could be circling the sinking ship and these include Donnelly and Transnational (Transnational have said they may only want parts) with some private equity companies for good measure. Another option is for Quebecor's primary shareholder Quebecor Inc. (35% of shares and 84% of voting) to take the company private. Certainly, if Quebecor Inc, stepped in they would want some assurances but their shareholders may not be happy with any type of rescue. Quebecor Inc's shares also dropped on news of Quebecor's problems.

From The Globe and Mail:

The company was once a money-spinning jewel in Pierre Karl Péladeau's Quebecor Inc. media and printing empire. Now, it is viewed as a drag on Quebecor, which has to decide whether it wants to throw it a lifeline or cut it loose by selling it or letting it fend for itself. At this point, it appears less likely that Quebecor World's banks will want to extend credit lines after having recently lowered the credit facility to $750-million from $1-billion, National Bank Financial analyst Adam Shine said in a research note. There would have to be assurances of help from parent Quebecor, but coming to the printing subsidiary's rescue appears "increasingly burdensome and certainly wouldn't sit well with [Quebecor] shareholders," he wrote.

While the sale of the European operations would not have generated a significant (less than $50mm) gain it would have eliminated a loss making drain on the company's resources. Coupled with the loss of their CEO (sixth in four years) and the failed recapitalization, Quebecor shareholders have bailed. Quebecor was at one stage the worlds largest commercial printer but failed management and misguided strategic leadership has left it light years behind industry leader Donnelly.

Quebecor Share Debacle

Quebecor the big printing rival to RH Donnelly cancelled a $250mm share sale and a related $500mm debt issue yesterday after the offers received less than full participation from the markets. From the Globe and Mail:

Shares dropped from $5.10 to $2.80 in the past seven days - this was a $40 stock five short years ago. Much of the drop over the past week can be traced to short sellers who sold, with the intention of buying back Quebecor World shares by participating in the equity or debenture sale. If these same short sellers own the convertible preferred shares, they have even more to gain from a lower stock price, as they will get more equity when they swap the preferred shares for common. Long-time Quebecor World shareholders seemed unwilling to step in and support the stock over the past seven days, which should be a cause for some soul-searching at head office.

According to the newspaper, the company will now have to completely rethink how they refinance this company which is debt ridden despite selling their loss making European operations earlier this year. The performance of Quebcor compares unfavorably with the performance of RH Donnelly who appear to have weathered fundamental changes in the printing industry and intense competition from Asia to post consistently good results. Donnelly has also spent the summer successfully recapitalizing the company.