Google Announces Settlement in AAP Lawsuit

Certainly the publishing environment has changed fundamentally since the AAP and Author's Guild filed a lawsuit to halt the Google Book digitization program. Fears that in-copyright material would be 'stolen' in the process of digitization has now been trumped by greater fears of a digital book future where publishers will only be cursory participants. Rapid expansion of eBook programs at Amazon, SONY, Apple, Google and Ingram have changed the landscape so that publishers are keen to open all avenues for digital distribution of their content. This agreement may make Google the eBook leader ahead of Amazon.com although we will not know this until the dust settles. That eventuality however, will be exactly what publishers will be looking for as they have become increasingly concerned about the position and power of the Amazon eBook (Kindle) offering.

With this agreement, Google will be opening up a vast digital archive of out of copyright books for preview, sale and lending either direct to consumers or via institutions. Additionally, publishers will allow this technology and distribution to be applied to in-copyright material - this is where much of the controversy focused. Google, it was assumed, were digitising materials regardless of copyright status. They placed a moratorium on this process but what content that has been digitized can now be made available and the digitization process can resume. Google has added functionality that enables the copyright owner to turn on or off certain capabilities such as preview or buy.

The agreement also calls for the creation of a rights registry which will create a bibliographic database of copyright ownership information. There will be motivation for publishers and authors to maintain their information in this database since this will be the mechanism used to ensure that they get compensated.

All around on the surface this looks like an excellent compromise. Indeed, it could represent a momentous shift in the way we interact with books and book content. Congratulations to all parties for getting this agreement completed without too much blood spent.

The agreement itself can be found here. It should be pointed out there is compensation to be paid by Google to the AAP and AG. This will fund a pool of money to be dividended to copyright holders whose content was digitized without permission, money to create the copyright registry and attorneys fees. (I wonder who will be doing the registry thing - will it be an RFP?)

UPdate: Other reaction summarized here. (TOC)

Window Shopping at Amazon

Amazon.com has launched a new site app named WindowShop which is designed to enable you to do exactly that. Mimicking the concept of a store window, Amazon is trying to draw attention to those hot, new books, cds, games and dvds that a store manager might place up front to draw in customers. The application is fun to play with - you can move across categories as well as up and down. For example, if you navigate to a book title Fighter, The Fighters of the UFC (which is the first title in the version I am looking at), using the down arrow button you can view many more books merchandised. Grow tired of books and you can hit the right or left arrow keys to view another category.

By my count there are 10 books selected for inclusion. From the splash page for WindowShop I would rather have been able to chose which category to look at; however, as you use the app. it becomes easier to navigate and this is only a mild inconvenience. For example, if you zoom out so you see all the categories and products, you can hold the left cursor button and move your mouse around the screen to immediately navigate to a new title in any category.

Interestingly, the thing will just play itself and since everything is audio and visual rather than text - book blurbs are read aloud - you can leave it on in the background and come back to it if something gabs your interest.

EDItEUR Seeks New Director

EDItEUR, the international standards body for books and serials, announced important changes to both its management and governance structure at its meetings during the Frankfurt Book Fair Brian Green, the current Executive Director, is standing down from the post in 2009 in order to concentrate on his role as Executive Director of the International ISBN Agency, whose management is contracted to EDItEUR. EDItEUR is seeking both a new Executive Director (full or part-time) and a full time Associate Director who would be responsible for supporting the management of both the International ISBN Agency and EDItEUR. The location for these jobs is flexible.

In addition, a new management committee will be formed, consisting mainly of nominees of representative national and international trade bodies with interests in standards. This committee will work with the new Executive Director to propose new areas for standardisation and agree EDItEUR’s work plan and priorities.

“We discussed all possible options for the future of EDItEUR with the major stakeholders,” said EDItEUR’s Chairman, Friedemann Weigel of bookseller and subscription agent Otto Harrassowitz, “and there was one hundred percent agreement that the need for an international standards body for the book and journals sectors has never been greater than in the current digital environment”.

Expression of interest in the key industry roles of Director and Associate Director of EDItEUR should be made to Brian Green (brian@editeur.org), from whom further information is also available, by 14 November. The successful applicants are likely to have a background in the book or serials sectors, a commitment to the benefits of standards and excellent communication skills. In addition, basic management and business skills are important. The applicants should also be prepared to travel to conferences, seminars and book fairs.

About EDItEUR: EDItEUR is the international group coordinating development of the standards infrastructure for electronic commerce in the book and serials sectors. EDItEUR currently has 70 members from 17 countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, United States and most of the European countries.
Contact: Brian Green, brian@editeur.org

Oprah's Impact

I thought I would track the impact of the Oprah announcement on the sales of the title specifically mentioned in the 'endorsement'. The Kindle version of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is being offered at 10% off the regular price. The book was previously an Oprah pick in print form.

So just prior to the show airing on the east coast the Kindle version was ranked at 136 in the Kindle store. Now approximately 24hrs later it holds the 16th spot.



Here is a chart:

In isolation, it is hard to understand what it means in terms of units to move from 136th to 16th. It might be interesting to see what the respective print and kindle curves look like for future Oprah picks.

(I should have looked at the rank for the print version as well).

Looted Books

Der Spiegel has an interesting two part article about books looted in the run up to and during the Second World War. LINK

The records indicate that the city library purchased "more than 40,000 volumes from the private libraries of evacuated Jews" through this office. And, this being Germany, the librarians maintained meticulous record books to keep track of their purchases -- even though parts of the German capital were already in ruins. As always, preserving order was paramount. The librarians signed each volume and gave it an accession number, beginning with the letter J.

And,

The book thieves were able to expand their range of operations considerably after the war began. German occupiers in Eastern Europe raided 375 archives, 957 libraries, 402 museums and 531 research and educational institutions. They were also active in France, as the odyssey of sheet music once owned by the pianist Arthur Rubinstein shows. The history of the copies and prints of these works of various composers, some with personal dedications, mirrors the catastrophes of the 20th century.

Worth reading the whole thing just to keep things in perspective.

Oprah Endorses Kindle

Earlier this week, I visited the Amazon site for what I don't recall and on their front page was a video with Oprah's smiling face. In my ignorance, I thought she had already endorsed the Kindle and I had somehow missed it. Silly me. On her show today she announced the gadget has changed her life. Will the endorsement change the sales curve for the product? Probably.

Here is the blurb from the show: (Link)

This summer, Oprah received a gift that she says changed her life. "I'm telling you, it is absolutely my new favorite thing in the world," she says.Meet the Amazon Kindle™, a wireless portable reading device with instant access to more than 190,000 books, blogs, newspapers and magazines. Whether you're in bed or on the train, Kindle lets you think of a book and get it in less than a minute.As a special offer for Oprah viewers, Amazon.com is giving $50 off the price of Kindle. Enter the promotional code OPRAHWINFREY during the checkout process at Amazon.com to receive the discount. This offer is valid through November 1, 2008.Code for $50 off the price of Kindle: OPRAHWINFREY

Go to Amazon.com to learn more and order your Kindle today! Plus, you will receive an additional 10% off the price of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (regularly $9.99 Kindle/$17.63 Hardcover.) No promotional code is necessary. Come back later today for more from this show.

And in shameless merchandising you can visit my bookstore to make your purchase: HERE.

Rolling Stone Revamps

I recently subscribed to a free year of Rolling Stone magazine and this is the first time I have really looked at it since a girl friend bought me a sub when I was 18. They just revamped the format of the print edition and I must say I really like it. Gone is the newprint larger format version and in comes a more refined, mature dare I say 'professional' version.

Here is Wenner on the change:

The large format was one of Rolling Stone's trademarks — and it became a physical reminder of our roots in San Francisco and of a vital time in our cultural history. That's a lot of history, and it is not without a wistful feeling of sweet memories of those days that we make this change.

It was not a decision we made lightly. We felt this was the right move but remained a little uncertain, knowing this was not just up to us but also in the hands of the large number of passionate and longtime Rolling Stone readers (there are nearly 13 million of you, when you count the number of people who share their copy).

Thus, a few months ago, while putting together our annual summer double issue, we produced a version of that edition in the size and style of the one you now hold and mailed it to 3,000 subscribers to get their thoughts. The response was a major surprise: Readers loved it. We realized that the only reason to resist change was nostalgia.

Listen to Authors

The BBC is reporting the release by the British library of a trove of recorded interviews with authors. They discuss their work and issues pertinent to the times in which they are interviewed. It's good stuff. BBC.

Raymond Chandler is interviewed by James Bond author Ian Fleming, John Steinbeck discusses his reasons for writing The Grapes of Wrath, and Arthur Miller talks about his marriage to actress Marilyn Monroe.

Mr Fairman said: "These two new British Library audio collections form the largest survey of historic recordings by English-language authors and playwrights ever published.

"With many previously unpublished BBC recordings selected from the extensive collections of the British Library Sound Archive, these compilations will offer a fascinating insight into the lives and work of these great authors".

Amazon.com Shares Pummeled

Amazon reported their quarterly numbers yesterday and while those results just about met expectations it was their forecast that has thrown everyone into a tizzy. The company has brought their full year forecast (made in July) down from $20.10billion to between $18.46 - $19.46 billion. (This in itself is a ridiculously wide spread).

According to Bloomberg, over 40% of Amazon's operating profit comes in the Christmas quarter and they like other retailers are expecting a lackluster season.

Shares after trading are down 15%. Shares closed at $49.99 but are expected to open around $42.

Google Chart.

As an aside, Barnes & Noble has slipped below a market cap of $1billion.

Here is the transcript from Seeking Alpha. Those curious about why those supposed hundreds of thousands of Kindle units sold aren't impacting the numbers will remain frustrated.

Kindle selection continues to grow. Since inception, we have more than doubled the number of books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs available to be delivered wirelessly in less than one minute. Kindle titles already account for more than 10% of unit sales for books that are available in both digital and print formats. We’ve ramped up manufacturing capacity over the past 10 months and Kindles are in stock and available for immediate shipment. Kindle sales since launch have significantly exceeded our expectations. We will not introduce the new version of the Kindle until next year at the earliest.

And this: They plan to make it up in volume:

And then on the Kindle? How do you see that affecting your long-term profitability in the book segment?

Jeffrey P. Bezos Well, one thing that I think you could imagine happening over the long-term there is that the prices of books will be cheaper, so most of the books that we are offering on Kindle today are $9.99, even if they are $20 or $25 in print form. And so you can see that -- I think that probably the best way to answer your question is we would hope to sell many more units and make less money per unit but all in, have a very strong business.

So, as we are coming to believe Amazon controls pricing in the e-book world! Consumers will expect an e-Book to cost $9.99 and publishers will not be able to do any thing about it.

Reed Business Sale and Choicepoint

The Financial Times reports that the price Reed may get for the sale of RBI will be far below their original expectation of £1.25Bill. In the article they quote someone suggesting a sale price of £750mm with the expectation that a sale would go ahead regardless.

The deal's financing is now in place but the sticking point is the deterioration in trading at RBI into 2009 as the economy weakens. Reed would not comment on a lowest acceptable price.

One analyst said: "I think it is worth Reed's while to sell low. If RBI went for £750m rather than £1bn, all they lose is £250m of cash. While it is helpful to have that on the balance sheet, at the end of the day it is only £10m of extra interest.

"The alternative is that . . . the market automatically values RBI in the sum of parts at £750m-£800m anyway and you get left with a cyclical business that will see downgrades and will be under pressure for a couple of years."

There are three groups with a serious interest but the article does not indicate when a sale will be announced. Reed will be pressing for a resolution as soon as possible.

In other related news, the Federal Trade Commission is requiring that Reed divest some part of Choicepoint in order for approval of the acquisition to proceed. The FTC believes that the combination of the Reed and Choicepoint public record business would diminish competition significantly and as a result Reed is being required to sell a part of this business to Thomson West. (Link: From September press release)

To eliminate the anticompetitive effects of the proposed acquisition, the FTC will require Reed Elsevier to divest assets related to ChoicePoint’s AutoTrackXP and Consolidated Lead Evaluation and Reporting (CLEAR) electronic public records services to Thomson Reuters Legal Inc., within 15 days after the proposed acquisition is consummated.

Through its LexisNexis division, Reed Elsevier provides electronic public records services to law enforcement customers in direct competition with ChoicePoint’s AutoTrackXP and recently, ChoicePoint’s CLEAR, a new and advanced electronic public records service. Together, the two firms account for over 80 percent of the approximately $60 million U.S. market for the sale of electronic public records services to law enforcement customers.

“The proposed acquisition would have eliminated the intense head-to-head competition between LexisNexis and ChoicePoint that has lowered prices and led to product innovations for a critical law enforcement tool,” said David P. Wales, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “The action announced today ensures that law enforcement customers will continue to benefit from this competition as they attempt to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated criminal activity.”

Thoughts on Orphans

Peter Brantley has a thoughtful piece on digitization and orphan works. The essay is a prelude to a series of articles he edited for the journal Library Trends (Link).

Here is a sample from his introductory essay:

Like many, I’ve recently been thinking a lot about the availability of books in online searchable repositories, and the likely outcomes for publishers, libraries, and the public. I have even been considering the impact of a rapprochement between publishers, authors, and Google over books whose availability is most savagely contested, largely because their legal status has been brought into a hazy dawn of uncertainty by the startling recent shifts in availability that catch them stranded between public goods and private property.

A significant portion of these implicated works are likely to be out-of-print, of uncertain copyright status, and no longer present in any publisher’s archive—available only in the less-visited shelves of the largest research libraries. This substantial category, numbering in the millions of books, would undoubtedly incorporate a large number of what are called “orphan works,” where the presence of any identifiable copyright owner in the work, or its constituent parts, is not known, and resilient to easy resolution as a result of poorly recorded mergers and acquisitions, lost archival contracts, publisher insolvency, and myriad other reasons. In turn, some of this orphan material is almost certainly public domain; the original copyright never renewed, and long since expired.

Crisis What Crisis

John Bird and John Fortune on the banking and subprime crisis broadcast a year ago.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzJmTCYmo9g

MediaWeek Report (Vol 1, No 42): Frankfurt Bookfair

Numerous articles on the Frankfurt Bookfair. Mokoto Rich in the NYTimes has two articles on translating foreign works. Looking for foreign titles for the US market: (link)

It is a commonly held assumption that Americans don’t like to read authors who write in languages they don’t understand. That belief persists here in Frankfurt, where publishers from 100 countries show off a smorgasbord of their best — or at least best-selling — books.

By and large, the American publishers spend most of the week in Hall 8, the enormous exhibit space where English-language publishers hold court.

Although there are exceptions among the big publishing houses, the editors from the United States are generally more likely to bid on other hyped American or British titles than to look for new literature in the international halls.

And another article about translations from English to foreign languages: (link)

A 20-year veteran of the fair who publishes many North American authors, including Malcolm Gladwell, Jeffrey Eugenides and Colson Whitehead, Ms. van der Pluijm, 46, promised to read the stories that night.

After the scout moved on, Ms. van der Pluijm (pronounced VAN der ploom) said it was a personal rule never to buy anything in Frankfurt. But she admitted that it was difficult sometimes not to get caught up in the frenzy. “It is so much more easy to buy something here than not to buy,” she said. Too many of the sales in Frankfurt, she said, were dictated by “too much excitement, not enough sleep and a big hangover.”

Talking about the elusive killer e-Book device (link):

Some believe they could galvanize the market for digital text in the way Apple's iPod did for digital music.

Penguin publishers Chief Executive John Makinson told Reuters: "They have become mainstream in the sense that they are a genuine consumer product for which there is real appetite, so this is not the province of geeks any longer."

Makinson said Penguin was now publishing all new titles both as printed books and e-books and was digitalizing its backlist.

Alison Flood at the Guardian takes a look at what books are selling at Frankfurt (link):

The publishing deals struck at the Frankfurt Book Fair set the tone for the books trade all around the world, and half way through the fair they are coming thick and fast. Publishers may still be bullish about their prospects, but the credit crunch is already driving big deals for books with a financial flavour.

Pearson reported strong 3rd quarter results last week. (Link):

• Sales up 8% and operating profit up 11% at constant exchange rates
• 2008 adjusted EPS expected to be toward the top end of current market estimates

Pearson, the international education and information company, is today providing an update on trading in the first nine months of 2008. Pearson continued to perform well in the third quarter. For the first nine months, sales are up 8% and operating profit up 11% at constant exchange rates. We are trading in line with our expectations, and we remain on track to make further progress on our financial goals in 2008. If the recent strengthening of the US dollar against sterling is maintained, we expect full-year adjusted earnings per share to be toward the top end of current market estimates*.

Bill Reilly Dies

Folio is reporting that William F Reilly died at his home on Friday. Bill was CEO of Macmillan when I (and Mrs PND) started my career after business school. To one of his staff members, he was an intimidating presence in the board room on the monthly occasions when we presented business results to him. He frequently made clear he knew more about the business than we did (as staff business analysts) but in doing so he imparted a clear perspective on what was important to understanding the true performance of the business. When Reilly joined Macmillan in the early 1980s, the company was on its knees loosing something like $100K a week. The share price was around $2. By the end of the decade, Robert Maxwell had purchased the company for over $90/share and Reilly and several of his management team were very rich. I joined after the Maxwell purchase and worked for Reilly for about a year before he went to join his team at K-III. K-III became Primedia.

Folio reports that services will be held as follows:

A wake is scheduled for October 21 in New York at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The funeral will be held Wednesday, Oct. 22 at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in New York at 10:00 a.m.

QE II Leaves NYC for the Last Time

The luxury liner Queen Elizabeth II sails past the Empire State Building for the last time. I would have missed this as I was on a call, but three long blasts of her horn had me rushing to the window. Since I wasn't ready this was the only shot I got.

The ship is to be retired and will become a floating hotel in Dubai. Her predecessor, the QE was similarly retired to become a floating university but after an extensive refit in Hong Kong the ship caught fire in a spectacular inferno. Somewhere in the PND family archive, is a photo of that ship lying on its side in HK harbor. I hope nothing untoward happens to this one.

That Big Database in the Sky

Are we getting ever closer to that large digital repository in the sky that enables any library patron to access the collections of their own and all other libraries from their computer? Perhaps. I believe this concept will come to represent a major element in the changed definition of 'library.' We are many years off that eventuality however, this new initiative may provide a glimpse of the opportunity.

Something named the HathiTrust has announced a large scale digital repository initiative in collaboration with 13 charter member research libraries. From the press release,

A group of the nation’s largest research libraries are collaborating to create a repository of their vast digital collections, including millions of books, organizers announced today. These holdings will be archived and preserved in a single repository called the HathiTrust. Materials in the public domain will be available for reading online.

Launched jointly by the 12-university consortium known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) and the 11 university libraries of the University of California system, the HathiTrust leverages the time-honored commitment to preservation and access to information that university libraries have valued for centuries. UC’s participation will be coordinated by the California Digital Library (CDL), which brings its deep and innovative experience in digital curation and online scholarship to the HathiTrust.

“This effort combines the expertise and resources of some of the nation’s foremost research libraries and holds even greater promise as it seeks to grow beyond the initial partners,” says John Wilkin, associate university librarian of the University of Michigan and the newly named executive director of HathiTrust. Hathi (pronounced hah-TEE), the Hindi word for elephant incorporated into the repository’s name, underscores the immensity of this undertaking, Wilkin says. Elephants also evoke memory, wisdom, and strength.

As of today, HathiTrust contains more than 2 million volumes and approximately ¾ of a billion pages, about 16 percent of which are in the public domain. Public domain materials will be available for reading online. Materials protected by copyright, although not available for reading online, are given the full range of digital archiving services, thereby offering member libraries a reliable means to preserve their collections. Organizers also expect to use those materials in the research and development of the Trust.

Volumes are added to the repository daily, and content will grow rapidly as the University of California, CIC member libraries, and other prospective partners contribute their digitized content. Also today, the founding partners announce that the University of Virginia is joining the initiative.

Each of the founding partners brings extensive and highly regarded expertise in the areas of information technology, digital libraries, and project management to this endeavor. Creation of the HathiTrust supports the digitization efforts of the CIC and the University of California, each of which has entered into collective agreements with Google to digitize portions of the collections of their libraries, more than 10 million volumes in total, as part of the Google Book Search project. Materials digitized through other means will also be made available through HathiTrust.

HathiTrust provides libraries a means to archive and provide access to their digital content, whether scanned volumes, special collections, or born-digital materials. Preserving materials for the long term has long been a mission and driving force of leading research libraries. Their collections, accumulated over centuries, represent a treasury of cultural heritage and investment in the broad public good of promoting scholarship and advancing knowledge. The representation of these resources in digital form provides expanded opportunities for innovative use in research, teaching, and learning, but must be done with careful attention to effective solutions for the curation and long-term preservation of digital assets.

This is an initiative worth following closely. The collaboration between libraries looks like the single most important differentiator compared with other digital initiatives particularly the Google digitization program. Hathi's application to the in-copyright world should be closely watched. As this program matures I expect the Trust will seek licencing terms that enable on-line viewing for in-copyright materials. Currently, the application is for preservation only.

Ingram: Downloads Strong. Prichard Interview

A little bit of a puff piece from Ingram Digital announcing that digital downloads from their retail solutions unit had enjoyed record third quarter growth with downloads more than double the same quarter last year. No numbers noted. Ingram Digital includes solutions for digital content management, distribution and promotion.

The press release does give me the opportunity to link to an interview Skip Prichard did last week as part of the SIIA brown bag interview series. It is 60mins.

College Networks Protect Music Rights

Frankfurt Bookfair is this week October 15-18th

Ars Technica reports on the trend on Campus networks to offer music download services so that students actually pay for music. This is a transparent effort by educational institutions to avoid being named in any potential lawsuits placed by Music publishers. Music publishers could claim that as a network owner, the Universities facilitated and did nothing to prevent students from illegally downloading content. Interesting that they don't seem to have the same issue with Students and Academics illegally unloading college course material.

Isolated stories about this trend have appeared in the tech press for the last few years as schools have tried to convince students (often with little success) to use sponsored solutions instead of peer-to-peer file-sharing. Early music solutions were often Windows-only and used DRM that was incompatible with the iPod, which generally led to failing grades for legal alternatives. Such services have also proved controversial at schools where student fees were used to fund them; the non-eyepatch-wearing landlubbers among the student body tended to object to this use of their money.

MediaWeek Report (Vol 1, No 41): Google and the AAP Law Suit

Library Journal reports that the lawsuit between Google and the AAP may be on the cusp of being settled:

Nearly three years after its initial filing, it appears a settlement may finally be near in publishers’ lawsuit over Google’s controversial program to scan books from library shelves. Although rumors of a settlement have flared up and died down intermittently over the years, sources wishing to remain anonymous this week told the LJ Academic Newswire and Publishers Weekly that talk of a final agreement has indeed heated up, with one publishing insider confirming that a settlement was “imminent,” although no solid time frame was known.

Lulu.com is cutting some staff. Link Continued negative news on the sale of Reed Business Information. If it happens at all the price looks like being much lower than expected. Bloomberg NYTimes looks at how video games could spur reading in those who don't.

Springer Buys BioMed Central

Just announced from their press release. Looking forward, Springer may be the perfect (only?) partner to continue the experiment with Open Access and ensure BioMed remains true to its purpose.

Springer Science+Business Media has reached an agreement to acquire BioMed Central Group, the leading global open access publisher.

BioMed Central was launched in May 2000 as an independent publishing house committed to providing free access to peer-reviewed research in the biological and medical sciences. BMC is the largest open access provider in the world with over 180 peer-reviewed journals.

BioMed Central’s flagship journals include Journal of Biology, BMC Biology, BMC Medicine, Malaria Journal, BMC Bioinformatics and Genome Biology. BioMed Central has revenues of approximately EUR 15 million per year. The company is based in London, with a second office in Liverpool, and has approximately 150 employees.

Derk Haank, CEO of Springer Science+Business Media said: “This acquisition reinforces the fact that we see open access publishing as a sustainable part of STM publishing, and not an ideological crusade. We have gained considerable positive experience since starting Springer Open Choice in 2004, and BioMed Central’s activities are complementary to what we are doing. Additionally, this acquisition strengthens Springer’s position in the life sciences and biomedicine, and will allow us to offer societies a greater range of publishing options.”

Matthew Cockerill, Publisher of BioMed Central said: “We are very excited about this new phase of BioMed Central's growth and development. Springer has been notable among the major STM publishers for its willingness to experiment with open access publishing. BioMed Central has demonstrated that the open access business model can work, and we look forward to continued rapid growth as part of Springer. The support of our authors, journal editors and institutional customers has been vital to BioMed Central's success and we will continue to focus on offering the best possible service to these groups."

Peter Suber of Open Access News as more thoughts: Link