International rights management and the Frankfurt book fair

International Rights Management and the Frankfurt Book Fair

Hans Kim, Marisa Moura, and Lynette Owen

T~p e Frankfurt Book Fair sponsors an annual International Rights Directors Meeting to rovide an opportunity for professionals from over 106 countries to get together and

discuss new developments in the sale or purchase of reprint, translation, and adaptation rights with related copyright issues. It seems to make sense to share selected presentations that focus on countries for which information is not readily available. The following three papers on Brazil, South Korea, and Central and Eastern Europe are the first effort to provide country reports to a wider audience.

South Korea: Not Only Children's Books

Hans Kim

Introduction

I would first like to quickly introduce my company to provide a point of reference for you to understand some of the comments I make later, as they can easily be related to the size of company that Cheong Moon Gak represents. Namely, Cheong Moon Gak was founded in 1974 and is family owned. To date it has published more than 800 titles, and is currently adding around 70 new titles each year. Originally concentrating in the field of university science and technology textbooks under the Cheong Moon Gak imprint, we have since expanded the range of our products to include general and popular science under the HanSeung imprint, trade books under the Lux Media imprint and are currently preparing the launch of our new imprint Lux Kids for the early part of next year, which will focus on fiction and educational titles for children. We have also recently developed a number of high-school textbooks that have been accepted by the Korean Ministry of Education. Cheong Moon Gak has one non-publishing subsidiary. This is Studio Lux Visual, a commercial photography studio.

We have established ourselves as a leader in science and technology publishing in Korea, and are considered one of the larger publishing companies. Approximately ten percent of Cheong Moon Gak titles are translations of foreign titles, usually from English or Japanese.

Current Book Publishing and Bookselling Information

The Korean bookselling market comprises of three main types of business: small inde- pendents, large wholesalers, and online bookstores. As there are no large bookseller chain

Addresses for correspondence: Hans Kim, Managing Director, Cheong Moon Gak Publishers, 486-9 Gilum 3 dong, Sungbuk-ku, Seoul 136-113, Korea. Email: [email protected]. Marisa Moura, Director, Pagina da Cultura, Av. Paulista 2073, Horsa 1 sala 1524, Sao Paulo, SP CEP 01311-940, Brazil. Email: [email protected]. Lynette Owen, Copyright Director of Rights, Pearson Education Ltd., Edinburgh Gate, Harlow CM20 2JE, Great Britain. Email: [email protected].

Kim, Moura, and Owen 45

stores in Korea, Internet bookstores are the only true national stores and as of 2002 control 10% of the total book sales market.

A look at the bookselling market in Seoul is a typical look at the book market in South Korea. Book sales in Seoul are dominated by two stores: Kyobo and Yong Poong. Though only having one store in the center of Seoul, Kyobo is the largest bookstore in Korea and is part of the Kyobo conglomerate company. Yong Poong has two large stores in Seoul but this is the extent of their company. Small independent bookstores then serve the local communities. Textbooks, although offered by Yong Poong and Kyobo, are usually sold through university bookstores owned by the respective institutions and are located on campus. This pattern is the same throughout Korea. Children's educational books are usually sold through a home delivery style service, and there has also been a rise in the number of stores that rent books in much the same style as you would rent a video or DVD.

Korean publishing companies, not including the foreign multinational companies, tend to be small privately owned companies, and on the whole, are no larger than around 10 to 15 employees. There are some exceptions to this, for example Kyobo, which as well as having its bookstore has recently started its own imprint.

Brief Statistics of the Korean Publishing Industry

The number of new book titles published in 2001 was 34,279, a 1.9% point year-on-year decrease. In contrast, the number of copies of book titles newly published in 2001 was just over 117 million, a 7% point year-on-year increase. By genre, comics (accounting for 26.5% with 9,117 titles) were on the top of the list with the wide variety, as in the previous year, followed by literature (14% with 4,806 titles), children's books (13.9% with 4,754 titles), and social science books (12.2% with 4,168 titles). The genres showing a year-on- year increase were children's books (+17%) and linguistic books (+7.7%) with the others showing a decrease. Overall average print runs in 2001 were 2,981 copies. By genre, linguistic books (3,505 copies) were on the top of the list, followed by Children's books (3,262 copies), literature (2,489 copies), and arts (1,884 copies).

Market Average Book Prices per Category

Overall average list price in 2001 was $11.23. By genre, science titles ($15.24) were on the top of the list, followed by social science ($14.42), art ($12.89), and Linguistic titles ($12.83).

Number of Translated Books and Market Share per Category

The trend for publication of translated titles has shown a steady increase over the past five years. Their share in the entire scope of publications, which used to be somewhere around 15% five years ago, sharply rose to 25.3% (19% excluding comics) in 2000, and 28.2% (21.5% excluding comics) in 2001. In 2001, the number of foreign books published in Korea including translated books was 42.67 million (36.4% of the entire picture) in 9,680 different categories. The genres in which foreign books were translated, and accounting for a particularly higher share were in the order of comics (46.8%), philosophy, pure science, children's, religion, and literature. In terms of the number of translated books published, comics (26.47 million) were number one, accounting for 62%. Translated books

46 Publishing Research Quarterly / Summer 2004

of U.S. origin were more than any others, except for comics and those of Japanese origin (on which the nation's dependence is very high). Translated books of U.S. and Japanese origin accounted for two-thirds of the entire picture of translated books in 2001 as in the past years, with those of British, German, and French origin showing a respective share of about 5%.

According to a survey in 2000 with those (59% of all publishers in Korea) that have experience in publishing translated books, the top countries of origin for translated books are in the order of the U.S. (68.2%), Japan (52.4%), the U.K. (13.7%), Germany (10.6%), France (6.7%), and China (5.2%).

What Can Be Done to Improve Business?

1. Consideration of the difference in First Print Runs and List Prices between our markets. As you can see from the statistics I have discussed earlier, there is a substantial gap

between first print runs and list prices of the Korean market and the American and European markets. I think it would be beneficial to all Korean publishers and to the efficiency of the overall process if this were considered when suggesting advance payment and royalty terms.

2. Co-publishing is not always a good option for Korean publishers. For titles that sell over 2000 copies per year, co-publishing is a very good option. But for

titles with limited sales potential or very low print runs this system does not work and Korean publishers would prefer to acquire the Korean-language rights.

3. Long response times. Often it takes a long time to get a response from a foreign rights department. We under-

stand that this is most likely due to these foreign rights departments being very busy places, but with such a high level of competition in the Korean publishing industry a quick answer would truly be appreciated.

4. More feedback on rights applications--positive or negative. Korean companies would appreciate a greater level of feedback on foreign rights enqui-

ries. For example, if an approach for a title is rejected, we would like to understand why for future applications. Has it been because we were outbid? Is it because our list price or first print run is too low? Is there a perceived problem with the applicant company? Of course we do not need every last detail, but many of these things will be good information for us to help speed up the process of future applications and for both sides to build up a sound business relationship.

5. Should rights be sold only to the highest bidder? Often foreign rights will simply be sold to the highest bidder. Is consideration taken in

the level of experience of other applicant companies? Has one of the applicants published previous editions of the title but still been overlooked because they have not offered enough? Korean companies try very hard to establish long-lasting relationships with other companies.

6. Do Korean publishers really have to take distribution rights as well? Korean publishers are often forced to accept English-language edition distribution rights

to ensure that they can acquire Korean-language rights. In my experience I have had to


agree to accept a far greater number of English-language copies of a title than we can sell, even though 1 have tried to make it clear that there is no market for that many copies in Korea. Admittedly, there are a greater number of people speaking English in Korea today, but Korean-language editions will still sell far more copies and create greater royalties for the original publishers.

Changes in and Challenges for the Korean Book Market

For the past three years the Korean publishing industry has had tough economic times despite the economic growth in the rest of the country. The categories of newly released books have been reduced and this change reflects the conditions present in the publishing industry.

In Korea copyright protection is minimal, illegal copies and Internet distribution of books is common and has a fixed price policy. The publishing industry has never really had a chance to prosper due to these problems. However, in 2001, the size of the nation's publication market was about 2.43 trillion won, a 4.6% year-on-year increase. This increase is attributable to reinvigoration of the publication market after a four-year IMF- controlled austerity budget and an increase in consumer confidence and purchasing.

The beginning of the millennium and the digital revolution has changed the form and paradigm of the publishing business. Paper books have rapidly declined and evolved into e- books. There is still however a stalemate because of the wait-and-see attitude of the pro- ducer and reader.

There are still a lot of problems in the publishing industry of Korea, such as a pre- modernized circulation structure and management. Also, the lack of publishing specialists, the deficiency of the library system, the unstable fixed price policy, and the rapid dissemi- nation of illegal copies. Domestically there is also the infiltration by Bertelsmann and Amazon of the market, a decrease in readership, and increase in e-books, and a rapidly changing copyright policy.

Fortunately, the first-year attempt for improvement of the circulation system ended with little trouble, and the second-year project will be launched soon. Furthermore, legislation for the establishment of unstable fixed price policy and inhabitance of illegal copies has been pushed ahead. The uneasiness of the evolution of digital technology has dissolved somewhat and steps have been made in solving the problem of unrestricted competitive pricing on online bookstores.

Broadcast and mass media participation on a positive note have helped the book market to recover in the second half of the year making it possible for a renaissance in the publishing world. Korean publications will also start to expand into other parts of Asia, including, most notably, China amongst others.

For the year 2002 to be the year of hope and renaissance for Korean publication must be the priority. We have to solve these problems in order to establish an advanced nation of publication with harmony, wisdom, and cooperation.

Paju Book City

Started in January 1991, Paju Book City is one of five state-sponsored projects aimed at establishing a "knowledge infrastructure" in Korea, in preparation for the "Information


Era" in the 21st century. Located about one hour's drive to the north-west of Seoul, on a 390-acre plot of land, Paju Book City will be the home to around 130 publishing companies, 22 printing and binding companies and 7 paper suppliers. Also on site will be the Asian Publishing Culture Information Center, Paju Book City Information Center, and the Korea Publication Distribution Company (KPD), that will build a new state-of-the-art automated distribution center. The KPD was created by nearly 400 Korean publishers and booksellers to provide a central distribution service, and ships over 13 million books per year all over the world and carries more than 100,000 titles in stock.

So what will this mean for the book industry in Korea? Well, the project aims to maxi- mize the profitability of the Korean book industry by bringing all aspects of the industry onto one fully integrated site. This all sounds very nice, but what it means in real terms is that by having all these companies in one place, information and ideas to improve the Korean book industry can be shared, and the costs involved in the various stages of publishing and bookselling minimized, with the end result being a cheaper, more efficient book production process that can be able to meet the changing demands of its domestic and international customers. Paju Book City is scheduled for completion by December 2005, and this year has seen the opening of several companies' new homes.

Conclusion

It is a very exciting time in the Korean publishing and book-selling industry. With the freedom that our economy has without IMF influence, and with new developments and legislation, the industry will change in some very fundamental ways that will force most companies to adapt or die. I expect that the number of publishers in Korea will decrease sharply, but those that remain will be better and far stronger than before. We may also see a greater number of successful Korean publishers being purchased and integrated into large multinational companies. There is also the possibility for the rise of the first Korean world- class players in the publication market. For Cheong Moon Gak it presents the opportunity to reshape the company for the future. But it also makes for a market that will be even more competitive than before. For the consumer this can only be a good thing, and for the people here today, a very good thing as we will be fighting harder than ever to get hold of the rights for the excellent books that you produce.

Brazil: The Giant of South America and Fifth-Largest Nation in the World

Marisa Moura

I want to point out some aspects of the copyright and translation rights sales to Brazil. I will focus on the difference between Brazil and Latin America, Brazilian unique market characteristics, translations to Portuguese, editorial forms, editorial lines, sales of other rights, and sending of sample materials.

The Latin American or Spanish versus Brazilian Markets

There is a Brazilian expression that asserts: Brazil is not for beginners. By introducing this expression I only want to show that in spite of all the economical fluctuations, the Brazilian editorial market is expanding, increasing year by year and has very peculiar


characteristics. I plan to focus on the Brazilian editorial market, because it runs parallel to the Latin American editorial market. Brazil constitutes an island of the Portuguese language surrounded by Spanish on all sides. Also, we cannot assume that the behavior of the Portu- guese reader is the same as the behavior of the Brazilian reader, because we know that Portugal is part of the famous European culture, whereas Brazil is a country which has a variety of typically Polish, German, and Italian regions in the South contrasting with the center of our country which has Russian and other ethnic communities. In short, we are a multicultural nation and Sao Paulo concentrates or represents most of the immigrants.

Nowadays, Brazilian publishing houses are increasingly better structured and managed- - more competitive in relation both to domestic and foreign markets. This has brought long- term partnerships between Brazilian and foreign publishing houses. Many agents who are present in this market, upon offering representation in Brazil, must have heard from the publishers the statement that: "We are already working with Record or Companhia das Letras or Campus."

Peculiarities and Unique Factors

The Brazilian editorial market is still characterized by developing and maintaining relationships based on loyalty between foreign authors, editors, and publishing houses.

In this sense, in some cases, it is more profitable for the short- or medium-term for many authors and foreign editors, to maintain their relationships and contracts with a few known Brazilian publishing houses rather than making contacts with new partnerships.

One of the reasons for this attitude of maintaining partnerships may be the fact that in Brazilian publishing houses, the same person very often manages the roles and obligations of publisher and editor. Another reason is that our country continues to go through periods of political and economic chaos. Therefore, international publishers feel secure with old friends and long-term relationships.

Translations

The fluctuations in the Brazilian currency versus the US Dollar have favored translations into Portuguese from the following languages: French, Spanish, and English. In this case, it is not only the economical aspect, which has its influence, but it is also the possibility of more easily finding translators in Brazil for these languages. This special focus on languages and related translation skills allows the production costs for the foreign books to be comparatively cheaper. We know that there are translators for the lesser-known languages in Brazil. However, most of the Brazilian publishing houses do not have immediate access to these translators and this has made the sale of translations for lesser-known languages more difficult. We should here suggest to the Frankfurt Book Fair organizers to create a "Who's Who of Translators" for the countries, which are participating to support the publishing houses of the lesser-known languages.

Subsidiary Rights

The most common format of books in Brazil is the trade paperback for all subjects and fields of knowledge, including the children's books. The trade hardcover format is only used when there is a technical production requirement or a special wish to make a different


special book. There are no standards in the publishing of classical books in mass-market hardcover. It happens, but with no pre-established schedule.

The worldwide mass-market paperback romance novels on sale at newsstands are very popular and only explored by two Brazilian publishing houses. One publisher buys the translation rights from international publishers and the other publishers produce titles lo- cally written by Brazilian authors.

The Book Clubs have already had their period of total success during the 1970s and 1980s and perhaps some of these companies are planning to come back. Door-to-door is a very well structured market in Brazil. They deal with cities and regional districts, which have less cultural centers and fewer special bookstore sales outlets.

The co-editions are mostly for the sales to bookshops and door-to-door sales channels. Anthologies and textbooks rights and "permissions" are much exploited in many sectors of the publishing industry. The pocket book is still at the beginning of its development and has much room for future expansion. We have about six publishing companies working in this sector currently in Brazil. Audiobooks, e-books, and other digital editions have not yet defined a realistic market segment or niche within the total Brazilian book consumers.

Selected Highlights

The field for business, self-help, esoteric, spiritual and religious books in general are overexploited in Brazil by Brazilian authors as well as by translations of foreign titles.

The field for young adult books for instruction or supplemental classroom use (from 7 to 17 years of age) is served by very competitive publishing houses, which work from the planning of a book, up to total support for its use in classes by teachers. Publishers in Brazil focus on the private school network as well as the public education system. The latter is always larger in sales figures. The Brazilian government at all levels has been buying large quantities of books for schools and libraries. The best income/profits in this area come from the government purchases. When translation rights are bought for these titles, the Brazilian publishing houses prefer to have the rights include purchase of the films for the printing of local editions.

The area of literary fiction is more published in Brazil than the stories known as "commercial fiction," Perhaps because the price of a book in Brazil does not correspond to the needs of the books labeled "commercial fiction."

A curious case in this sense concerns a cleaning lady of ours, so eager to acquire cheap books, between 50 cents and one dollar, bought books in English and French that were on sale in a bookstore near our office. Thus, she was still unable to read the books. Upon getting the information that in 2002, a series of books were being sold at R$1.00, she only stated: "Now also the poor can read."

From Book to Film, Play and TV

The sales of translation, media or copyrights for movies, theater, and TV are not neces- sarily made by Brazilian publishing houses or by literary agents. When it comes to these last two, there is only the possibility of negotiating and developing the contracts.


The Book Alone Is Not Enough

During a lecture on the profession of the editor in S~o Paulo, we heard the following declaration from an experienced Brazilian editor: "I publish books - - and you also want me to read them?" I use this sentence to complain of the way the foreign publishers or editors offer their works. It is still very common to mail only one reading copy and nothing else. With no author biography, no summary of the book, no press reviews, or any information about the target market, number of copies sold or planned to be sold in the country of origin, etc. When the languages concerned are from the usual major countries in the world then the translation problems are smaller. However, books in Polish, Dutch, Korean, among others, or even the reference to a brief Intemet research, make a good presentation and review impossible for the Brazilian editor.

An agent with more than thirty years of working in the Brazilian market, said that in her experience the reading of a book made her anxious concerning the sale of the book. In order to accomplish a good sale she would rather work with author biographies, press reviews, etc., instead of only a copy of the book.

Central and Eastern Europe: Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Other Small Growing Markets in Transition

Lynette Owen

Poland and Hungary

I would like to focus primarily on Poland and Hungary, both of which had a long history of licensing relations with westem publishers both before and during the period of communist rule, albeit with some restrictions on certain types of publication--this in contrast with some other countries in the region which were much more isolated both in a political and geographical sense. I would like to add some perspective from the point of view of the educational and academic sectors of publishing, which have had long links with the region and where western publishers visited the markets far earlier than their trade colleagues.

First, Poland

A population of some 39 million, ethnically far more cohesive than most other countries in the region and bonded by strong Catholicism, probably a key factor in the survival of this country on the map over the centuries. Before 1989 the publishing industry was completely state-controlled, although unlike most other countries in the region, rights trading was not rigidly channeled through a state copyright agency. There were some 40 state publishers, some specializing in literature such as Czytelnik in Warsaw and Literackie in Krakow; others with a total monopoly on subject areas such as medicine, economics and agriculture. The Warsaw Book Fair was established in the 1950s and celebrated its 47th anniversary in 2003. During the time of communism, this event provided an annual showcase for western books (within certain state censorship restrictions) and as priority for import purchases was given to areas such as science and technology, it was the STM publishers who visited this market early and have continued to do so. Relatively few trade publishers visited the market, partly because certain types of western publication were unacceptable for reasons of


content or sheer price; another factor was that for many years royalties could be paid only in blocked currency, which had to be collected and utilized on designated expenses within Poland.

The Warsaw Book Fair saw some turbulent times, with economic restrictions on im- ports, and then martial law and the suppression of the Solidarity movement.

The watershed occurred in 1989 when some of the underground publishers operating during martial law exhibited their books at the fair. By the following year everything had changed; it was possible to establish private publishing houses legally, and the first year saw thousands set up, half of which had gone out of business within the first twelve months. Some houses were established by people who had gained experience in the state publishing sector---others came from quite different walks of life, and this pattern has been followed throughout the region. Some of my best customers started their careers as nuclear physi- cists! In Poland, most of the state houses still exist, although some have been privatized with the help of foreign investment, others via staff buyouts.

The early 1990s saw a huge boom in rights trading with the west--almost every type of book was bought, from literary fiction through pulp fiction, illustrated books for children and adults; royalties could at last be remitted in hard currency. The craze to publish any- thing and everything had a rather negative effect on the educational and academic sector. Most new private publishers did not have the patience to invest in this type of book, which required experienced staff and provided a slow return on investment, although a small number of publishers have since sought to compete with the state school textbook publisher, WSIP, quite successfully. There was a craze for popular illustrated information books of the Dorling Kindersley variety, a completely novel type of publication in the market at the time, to the detriment of much local publishing. Many western publishers and agents who had never before shown an interest in the market benefited. Not all the rights trading in this area had a happy outcome, however, there was overenthusiasm, overbuying, and oversell- ing, with the result that some western publishers were left with substantial co-edition debts. Much of this stemmed from lack of experience of cash flow management on the Polish side, and insufficient caution on the western side in requiring payment guarantees. Nevertheless, some Polish publishers expanded rapidly and successfully, publishing both translations and original books--Amber, Muza and Proszynski spring to mind.

The second half of the 1990s has however been less ebullient. As with all countries in the region, the reality of economics in publishing set in-- the end of state subsidies on paper and printing or controlled book prices, and the removal of the state-controlled distribution system led to problems some of which still persist As book prices have risen, Poles have had to choose between books and other commodities and costs. Although the number of new books published each year currently remains steady, print runs have fallen and this of course affects the terms which are offered for foreign titles--advances can range from a few hundred dollars, but can still be substantial for a new title from a best-selling western author. Some publishers have had to cut their staff levels significantly.

But Poles remain book lovers, as is evidenced by the crowds which come to the Warsaw Book fair every year to look, to see visiting foreign authors, and to buy books on the spot. In fiction, the interest ranges from perennial bestsellers such as Robert Ludlum and John Grisham and Jackie Collins, whom Andrew Nurnberg represents there (and the Harry Pot- ter books, of course!) to upmarket fiction writers such as the UK's Graham Swift and Martin Amis. Although many Polish publishers travel to western fairs, Warsaw remains a


key event for rights trading and for those of you who do not attend I would strongly recommend a visit to see a wide showcase of Polish publications in the original and in translation.

Hungary

With its smaller population of some 10 million, Hungary has seen a similar pattern of events in its publishing industry. In communist times, rights trading was carried out through Artisjus, the state copyright agency, but that monopoly ceased in the early 1990s. Again, some of the state publishing houses survived under different ownership models--Akademiai Kiado, Kossuth, Corvina, and many new private houses sprang up with varying degrees of success and staying power. Illustrated information books proved particularly popular. The last two or three years have seen a fall in the output of new titles and a drop in print runs, with a corresponding effect on advances for licenses. The Budapest Book Fair, a much newer fair than Warsaw, remains an annual event, but quickly developed into a venue for local publishers to sell physical copies of their books to local buyers, rather than an international rights trading venue.

The Three Baltic States

I would like to conclude this paper by making brief mention of three small markets the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Whilst all still have significant Rus- sian-speaking populations, the 1990s saw a significant rise in publishing in the local languages and a substantial increase in learning English as the first second language. With populations of under 5 million, print runs for translations can be modest--sometimes as low as 1,500--but they nevertheless add to the range of rights which can be licensed and in my experience are often far more welcome news to our authors than a translation into a more "routine" language. The annual Baltic Book Fair circulates between the three countries. The pattern of development of the publishing industries in the Baltic states has been similar to what I have described for Poland and Hungary- -boom years in the early 1990s, the establishment of many private publishers and the privatization of former state houses, and the onset of more realistic trading in the last five years. Lithuania was the featured country at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2002 and I would recommend to you the excellent overview of the market by Giedre Kadziulyte in the Frankfurt preview supplement of the UK Bookseller magazine of September 27, 2002.

My view is that Romania and Moldova, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic are markets that started off from a base of very little contact with the west for both geographical and very particular political reasons. They have experienced the same pattern of rapid expansion and leveling off that I have described. So should we bother with any of these markets? I have no doubt that we should. Publishers in these markets have often struggled to survive and prosper in these markets in ways that those of us in the west find hard to imagine and they have a wealth of creativity and resourcefulness to offer western partners. I have little sympathy with westerners who refuse to deal with them on the grounds that the return per deal is too small, and as a publisher of information myself, I think we have a duty to give access to that information to countries less fortunate than our own. On a commercial note, my experience is that staying with a market long-term and through adversity has been one of the best sales strategies--certainly in these markets publishers remember that my com-


pany continued to deal with them during martial law, political coups, and times of economic adversity. I 'm convinced that it is shortsighted to be only a fair-weather friend. So, if you are not already dealing with publishers in these countries, give them a chance, either by working with them direct, or using an experienced subagent in the market. Your authors will appreciate that their books will be reaching a wider and very appreciative audience.

Documents

International rights management and the Frankfurt book fair