A revolutionary concept in fostering free use of books launched only a few years ago with GlueJar's Unglue.it model. This model relied on crowdfunding to propel a book into Creative Commons status, essentially paying the rights holder an agreed upon amount in order to "unglue" the book. Now, Unglue.it has announced the first ebook created under its new funding mechanism. … [Read more...] about Unglue.it Goes Live with Its First Crowdfunded eBook
Unglue.it
Crowdfunding the Next Big Thing in Publishing?
While crowdfunding sites likes Kickstarter have helped launched a large number of diverse projects through user-generated donations, this fundraising model has been slow to work in the publishing industry. One of the first sites that operates through user-interest dollars was Unglue.it, who as early as 2011 was working to solicit donations to take existing books and basically … [Read more...] about Crowdfunding the Next Big Thing in Publishing?
De Gruyter, Unglue.it Work Together to Crowdfund Open Source Textbooks
When Unglue.it first launched its platform to strip the copyright status of books once a crowdfunded, pre-determined amount of money had been raised, skeptics spoke out. Not against that concept of "ungluing" a book, of course, but against the idea that ordinary readers would be willing to donate money to a publisher to make a book permanently public domain. Happily, Unglue.it … [Read more...] about De Gruyter, Unglue.it Work Together to Crowdfund Open Source Textbooks
Unglue.it Unleashes Two New Crowd-Sourced Titles
One of the more innovative concepts that has grown out of digital publishing is the concept of crowd-sourced "ungluing," a way to allow reader fans to remove the copyright status of books by pledging funding to buy the rights from the author under Creative Commons status of copyright law. Once a book has become "unglued," it can be read by anyone on any device for free while … [Read more...] about Unglue.it Unleashes Two New Crowd-Sourced Titles
Unglue.it Back In Action After Finding New Payments Provider
Unglue.it, whose launch earlier this year was only recently overshadowed by its news that it has had its first successful “ungluing,” was forced to halt future attempts at unglue it campaigns when it’s payment processor, Amazon Payments, decided to pull the plug on its acceptance of donations. What is ungluing? It’s the crowdfunding process by which individuals pledge … [Read more...] about Unglue.it Back In Action After Finding New Payments Provider
First Successful Unglue of a Crowdfunded eBook
Unglue.it, a project conceived by Gluejar founder Eric Hellman, has faced some obstacles along the way to establishing copyright-free ebooks based on crowdfunded pledge campaigns, but has been able to release a landmark work as part of its first successful "ungluing." Back in May, Unglue.it broke the news that it had received the required amount of pledges based on the … [Read more...] about First Successful Unglue of a Crowdfunded eBook
Amazon to Halt Processing of Crowd-Funded eBook Access
Unglue.it, the recently launched crowd-funding site that allows consumers to make pledges of payment to "unglue" ebooks, thus eliminating the copyright and DRM, has just been informed by Amazon that the retailer will no longer honor pledge payments for this kind of transaction. CEO Eric Hellman issued a statement today: “Amazon Payments has informed us that they will no … [Read more...] about Amazon to Halt Processing of Crowd-Funded eBook Access
First Successful Unglue It Campaign
When GoodEReader interviewed Unglue.it president Eric Hellman about the concept behind ungluing books to make them readily available without limitation, the idea may have been equal parts intriguing and skeptical. Would readers really pledge money in order to strip a book of its DRM and copyright in order to thrust it into the public domain and make it available anywhere for … [Read more...] about First Successful Unglue It Campaign
Buzzwords from BookExpo
Only a few years ago, the publishing camps were firmly divided about digital publishing’s place in the world. While supporters declared ebooks to be the “death of paper,” critics dismissed digital reading as a flash in the pan. When it seemed like these newfangled ebooks were actually gaining popularity, both sides became just as divided on where digital fit in the publishing … [Read more...] about Buzzwords from BookExpo
GlueJar CEO Eric Hellman on Creative Commons Licensing
A little over a week ago, GlueJar unveiled its new division, Unglue.it. This new venture is directed at taking away the barriers to reading for a lot of people, specifically public library patrons who are currently still at the whim of the publishers when it comes to ebook lending. CEO Eric Hellman spoke to GoodEReader about how this is supposed to improve access to … [Read more...] about GlueJar CEO Eric Hellman on Creative Commons Licensing