Ebook and Novella

Thanks so much! This is great. I misunderstood the intended semantics of “distribution” – so thanks for clarifying. Makes much more sense now.

My thinking on DSR is that it requires an identifier. Does that identifier represent the content, or the implementation of that content? If it represents the implementation of that content, then somewhere there must be a link between the implementation and the content/book/work. If that is the case, then we would have duplication of data and the potential challenges that come with that.

If the identifier in DSR refers to the content/book/work, then DSR is insufficient for the purpose, and ONIX-DS would be required.

Would love to get your thoughts on that.

Finally, thanks for clarifying the usage. I had not realized that the implementation now underway was a production environment – that’s great news.

Thanks again!

Your description of ONIX for Repertoire as “a way for a rights holder to identify rights for a body of works, rather than just an individual work” is correct, although I might be inclined to describe it as “a way for a rights holder to communicate rights and permissions for a body of works, rather than just an individual work”. It is also true that ONIX for Repertoire in use can (and is) used to communicate messages about single works where this is appropriate.

What I am not less sure about is your description of a Repertoire as a “specific collection of Distributions”. A “Distribution” in RRO terms is the process whereby money collected from licensees is allocated to individual titles and their rightsholders. A Distribution message is therefore the message that documents a payment, explaining to the rightsholder the individual sums which go to make up a complete payment.

Why not use DSR for this purpose? Essentially because DSR is lacking in detail — it can describe the allocation of funds to a list of identified works, but does not carry the detail of how those funds were calculated. Within the RRO community, the ability to describe not only what is being paid but also why is essential. Does the same thing apply to the distribution of funds from the Book Rights Registry? My assumption (on the basis of what I know in other contexts) is that some rightsholders will both expect and make use of this data, while others will find a simple listing of allocations a title level sufficient. This is certainly worth more careful exploration.

Finally, as far as implementation is concerned, yes these standards are new. But both are now in use in a very rigorous “production” environment in the UK, with literally hundreds of ONIX-RP messages being processed every week. The nature of ONIX-DS is that there are not so many messages involved (one a month) but that has now been “in production” for a year and is working very smoothly.

Mark