Ilustration photo (Internet source)
Electronic Publishing - a new trend
In Viet Nam, the emergence of Alezaa, Lac Viet, FPT, Viettel, Tinh Van, ... is a typical sample to the trend of electronic publishing. They are not truly publishers, nor content or copyright owners. They just simply provide technological solutions to readers to read online, download to computers, tablets or smartphones at a cost of only 10-30% of printed books. For traditional authors and publishers, this could be a solution to problems of inventory, transportation and printing costs.
The general trend for large corporations and even small publishers, who release two or three dozen books annually, is to combine printed books and e-books. In Viet Nam, e-book projects of Information and Communications Publishing House, Education Publishing House, Youth Publishing House, Alphabooks, ... are also in this trend.
Electronic publishing in Viet Nam will grow faster
Although, at present, there is no publisher specializing in electronic publishing in Viet Nam, in the future, together with the rapid growth of information technologies as well as the specializing in e-book publishing, the establishment of electronic publishing houses is inevitable.
Under the statistics, the number of mobile and 3G broadband subscribers continues to grow in Viet Nam, therefore the opportunity for e- book development is increasingly strengthened. Currently, the e-book market in Viet Nam including online distribution and sale of e-books is still very modest. The market is leaning heavily on printed books. Although there is no specific statistics on the market share of these two segments, with the explosive of online connectivities to social networks, the division of the market shares will dramatically change in next 5-10 years.
It is shown that, the development of e-books in Viet Nam towards the specialization. We know, e-books have many advantages, so in a near future, the market for e-books will be very active in Viet Nam. However, there are still problems in negotiating copyright contracts, high-price of e-book supported devices, etc.
Management policy
Under the Publication Law 2012, existing and newly-established publishers will be allowed to carry out electronic publishing if they meet conditions of the Law. However, the Publication Law 2012 also requires, in addition to publishing licenses, the publisher must also satisfy conditions, such as: capacity of equipment, technology and technical personnel to operate and manage the process of publishing electronic publications; technical measures in accordance with the provisions of the State management agencies to prevent duplication, illegal interference in the content of publications; while carrying out electronic publishing on the Internet, they must have Viet Nam domain names; registration on electronic publishing activities with State agencies authorized in publishing activities, etc.
In implementing electronic publishing, publishers and other concerned organizations and individuals must apply technical measures to prevent interference in the content of publications or eliminate unlawful publications at the request of the state authorized agencies. Businesses providing intermediary services on the Internet environment and telecommunications networks in Vietnam must comply with regulated provisions on intellectual property. In addition, the Law also provides regulations on the technology for electronic publishing, importing electronic publications and violation handling.
