Via the amazing Peter Suber, some quotes from a story called Internet book piracy will drive authors to stop writing in the London Times:
Chevalier, the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring who also chairs the London-based [Society of Authors], said that her members were deeply concerned that the publishing industry was failing to adapt to the digital age….
Ms Chevalier told The Times that the century-old model by which authors are paid – a mixture of cash advances and royalties – was finished. “It is a dam that’s cracking,” she said. “We are trying to plug the holes with legislation and litigation but we need to think radically. We have to evolve and create a very different pay system, possibly by making the content available free to all and finding a way to get paid separately.”
The phrase “We are trying to plug the holes with legislation and litigation but we need to think radically” should be the warning bell for all industries – including education – trying to make their way into the current century.