While it's certainly not the only document-sharing Web site, Scribd.com, with more than 50 million users and more than 50,000 documents uploaded daily, aims to be the YouTube for print. The company has 24 employees and since its launch in March 2007, the San Francisco—based startup has raised almost $14 million in venture capital and more than a few questions about copyright infringement and ad revenue distribution from both publishers and authors. Cofounder and CEO John “Trip” Adler said that copyright is precisely the issue they are most concerned with, which is why the company is working with publishers and copyright holders to help them get as much out of Scribd as possible—perhaps even revenue down the road.
Scribd's main feature is its iPaper application—a Flash reader that allows creators to upload original writings—which permits both uniform publication display of documents and content to be embedded from the Scribd.com site and easily shared. Documents can be downloaded for free, and iPaper allows users to embed text on their Web sites, blogs and on Twitter. Beyond book publishers, Scribd is working with publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to embed material in their online stories. To guard against copyright infringement, Scribd claims that it has gone beyond what is required in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by developing a copyright filter to prevent unauthorized uploading of copyrighted material. Still, unauthorized material is being uploaded, and authors have also raised questions about revenue from Google ads on the site.
Right now, Scribd splits the ad revenue with Google, but, Adler said, “We are experimenting with different revenue streams that we believe will give authors and publishers more options and opportunities to share revenue directly with Scribd.”
As for removing copyrighted material, Tammy Nam, Scribd's v-p of marketing, said the company works on that constantly. “The system is getting much better and smarter,” she said. “We want to work very closely with publishers to find solutions that work for them. What's good for them is good for us, and vice versa.” Scribd allows publishers to have their own page on Scribd; some publishers have used its iPaper to embed e-content on their Web sites. Adler said Scribd wants not only to help authors and publishers find and connect with evangelists for their work, but also be a place where unpublished work can be discovered.
But that is not the concern of writers' representatives such as the Authors Guild, which, according to executive director Paul Aiken, has been closely watching the development of Scribd. So far the Guild has advised its members to exercise their right to ask Scribd to take down their work and notes that Scribd has been quick to comply with such requests. Still, the number of complaints to the Guild about pirated material posted on Scribd continues to climb.
Scribd is also on the radar of the Association of American Publishers. “Certainly we have no objection to new technologies to make it easier for people to access content that is legal,” said Edward McCoyd, AAP's director of digital policy. But he wants Scribd to be more proactive about filtering for copyright infringement at upload, and not put the onus on copyright holders to monitor it. Nam explained that Scribd would actually like to have access to a publisher's entire library of e-books to put in its filter—which would prevent copyrighted work from being uploaded without consent. None has taken Scribd up on that offer.
Carol Ritter at the Romance Writers Association pointed out that even if Scribd is quick to comply with takedown notices, as long as any unauthorized document is posted, it can be downloaded for free. She likened Scribd to “whack a mole”: as soon as the company complies with a takedown notice, another user uploads a copy of that book or another by that same author. “This all adds up to income that our members are not getting,” she said.
“I completely understand where she is coming from,” said Nam. “In the beginning, the filter was slow, but now you can filter in real time,” so material cannot be reposted. Scribd also has a strict policy about banning copyright infringers. “It's very easy for users to flag inappropriate and copyrighted content,” said Nam. “That issue is very, very important, and something we are always on top of.”
Author and copyright attorney Jonathan Kirsch—who had not heard of Scribd prior to PW's call—was surprised to find his most recent book, The Grand Inquisitor's Manual (HarperCollins e-book), posted on the site (with more than 200 views and 60 downloads). But he sounded less concerned than cautious about how his rights might balance with the potential exposure his work might gain through a site like Scribd. Scribd's technology, he explained, highlights what is becoming the classic struggle in the digital age between rights vs. opportunity. “I'd like to be findable and visible rather than invisible,” he said, but the lawyer in him wanted to take a closer look at the terms of use on Scribd.
At Berrett-Koehler, David Marshall, senior manager for digital communities, first contacted Scribd last spring with a “cease and desist” request from an author whose work was posted without consent. He quickly was convinced that Scribd presented more benefits as a marketing tool than as a threat to book sales. Since the summer B-K has worked closely with Scribd to upload chapters of its books and to develop its own page on Scribd.com. Marshall thinks posting entire books would be a disaster, but sees nothing but benefit for partial posts. A huge draw for B-K: Scribd's 50 million and growing users in a young demographic.
Matt Schwartz, director of digital strategy at Random House, said he likes the social networking aspect of Scribd and sees posting entire backlist titles for a limited time as an excellent marketing tool. For example, with the author's permission, Ballantine uploaded Tess Gerritsen's 2001 title The Surgeon; it's since drawn over 39,000 viewers and 3,000 downloads. And the Scribd version of The Surgeon includes promotional material on Gerritsen's next title. Schwartz said RH sees Scribd as part of its long-term marketing strategy for its authors. “When people read the free books, they tend to write about them on Facebook and Twitter—and that creates buzz,” he added.
For now, as a work in progress, Scribd is getting its own share of buzz. The user-generated content ranges from term papers and unpublished stories and books to published works. “Scribd is literally for everyone, that's why it continues to grow at a rapid pace,” said Adler. “And that is why publishers and authors need to be there.” And it's why groups like the Authors Guild are watching it closely. Even with its copyright problems, of all the content-sharing sites out there, Aiken believes that Scribd is the one that might take off.
