Paul Heald, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Fewer books will be available to South Africans, and the books remaining under copyright will be more expensive, if the country gives in to US pressure to extend its copyright term.
Despite dire predictions, bookstores are doing well: they are curators of taste and community hubs. But their challenges are many – from the arrival of Amazon Down Under to a ‘post-truth’ climate that devalues knowledge.
Reports of the decline of the eBook are premature. The publishing industry is changing rapidly and data that appears robust tells us less than it once did.