ADVANTAGES and Disadvantages

Electronic books present several advantages for reader, the author of the e-book and the publisher. This is why the digital publication market continues to grow.

Readers

• These books are usually downloaded from the Internet and this is why they are easy and fast to access, and accessible from any part of the world.
• They can be downloaded on portable devices, and, for this reason, they can be carried like conventional books.
• As these e-books do not take much space of computers and portable devices memory, the user can store several e-books and create libraries.
• The costs of e-books are much cheaper than printed books.
• There are many works available for free on the Internet, especially classic works.
• The most common payment method is credit card via the Internet.
• This type of publication allows the user to put down notes and include comments on the pages, underline words and look up the meaning of words by clicking on them.
• Unlike conventional books, e-books do not take any room and they do not wear out over time.
• There is a free reader program with sound functionalities for blind people or people with poor sight.
• Digital publications are not only used for literary works. For companies and institutions, this means works as manuals for personal training. They can also be used by industrial centers as machine operation and maintenance manuals, and by schools or libraries. Electronic books are also excellent promotion tools since they can be used as means to inform potential clients about products. Furthermore, they can work as catalogues for clients, even when they are not connected to the Internet.
  

• A digital publication can be distributed all around the world via the Internet.
• Electronic books cannot be copied or printed -unless the write authorizes it- since they are protected by copyright.
• This means is quite advantageous for writers with little experience, since publishing on the Internet is more accessible than printed publishing. This occurs because digital publishers do not receive as much demands from writers as conventional publishers do. Besides, the costs of publishing are much lower.

Digital publisher

• Unlike printed books, Electronic books published on the Internet allow a world distribution. For printed books this is not possible since transport costs are high and there are some geographic areas that are inaccessible.
• Digital publishers do not spend money on paper, printing, storage, transport, distribution and middlemen, and, as a result, electronic books prices are exceptionally low.
• By publishing books on the Internet, trees are not felled, and the resulting contamination of paper production and energy expenses are avoided. In this way, e-books cooperate with the protection of the environment.

Disadvantages

E-books present only two disadvantages for readers:

• E-books cannot be printed or copied since this is they way they are protected by copyright.
• Although there are books of different literary genres and classic best-sellers available, the digital umbrella is not as wide as printed books possibilities.

However, day by day, new opportunities for advancement in e-books technologies appear. Regarding the facts that these books cannot be copied and, especially, printed, new ways to improve portable devices definition are being developed in order to accomplish a similar image as printed books. Regarding the second disadvantage mentioned, as e-books become more and more popular, more digital publishers and writers are willing to publish works on the Internet, and, for this reason, there is a wider umbrella of possibilities regarding books. For the foreseeable future, we can expect an increase in electronic works available on the Internet.

To protect the copy rights of the author of a book has always been a problematic issue. In spite of the existing legislations to protect copyright infringement -that is to say, to reproduce a work without the writer or publisher permission- this is practically impossible to prevent. A clear example of this is the regular use of photocopiers. Regarding text circulation on the Internet, today there are many technologies that control the information on the web and its virtual circulation.

This is why most e-books cannot be printed and they can only be read on a specific portable device or computer -this means they cannot be read on different devices or computers. The authors and publishers of a written work are the only ones who can decide whether an e-book can be printed or not. Classic books -that is to say, public domain books- and other books can be copied freely.

Electronic books reproduction is strictly controlled, even more than printed books reproduction. In order to avoid the transmission of written contests on the web, technological tools have been designed to protect the rights of the writers and to authorize and regulate the use of information. In this, wide and safe circulation is assured for the authors of these contents since they have control over the dissemination of their works.

These tools are called Digital Right Management (DRM), a group of electronic technologies which blocks and protect written works and regulate users’ rights to gain access to them by means of licenses. The DRM have the following functions:

• It establishes the terms and conditions of a work.
• It enjoys a security and control system to limit the authorized use of the works and to reduce the number illegal copies.
• It allows a safe transmission of texts.
• It protects digital contents since it does not allow the modification of files.
• It allows the registration of the different participants in the editorial process (author, publisher, libraries, etc.) so as to control the work(s) distribution.
• These protection technologies were incorporated to the legislation through a treaty concluded by different states in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WOPI) in 1996 and The Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998. In this way, the infringement of the technical control systems becomes a legal infringement, which is punished. The rights of writers are protected by copyright.

As the DRM provide more protection to digital information, writers and publishers feel safe. In this way, electronic books publication and circulation is benefited.

Among the benefits digital publications provide we find: low costs –electronic book publications do not involve use of paper. For this reason, publishing a book is accessible for most writers –distinguished or not. Electronic books provide the possibility of making a written work reach a great number of readers around the world, becoming a significant innovation favorable for writers and publishers.

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