Tentative deal reached in Canadian port strike (chainstoreage.com)

A new survey commissioned by Stora Enso in March 2022 among 2,400 book readers and listeners in the UK, France, Germany and the US showed that people still overwhelmingly prefer physical books (65%) to e-books (21%) or audiobooks (14%). And consumers are willing to pay a premium for carbon neutral books. “With the book market strong coming out of the pandemic, our goal with this survey was to gain insights into whether the market would stay that way in a post-pandemic world. And the answer we got was a resounding yes,” says Jonathan Bakewell, VP, Head of Segment Office and Book Papers, Stora Enso.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) joined forces with more than 10,000 creators and coalition partners, including authors, musicians, actors, artists, and photographers, to condemn the theft of creative and intellectual authorship by big tech companies for use in their Generative AI models. In fact, these consumer-facing models and tools would not exist without the books, newspapers, songs, performances, and other invaluable human expressions that were—and continue to be—copied, ingested, and regenerated in blatant disregard of the law. This is a crucial time for AI policy development globally, as authors and their publishers call on their governments and courts to uphold the most fundamental of copyright principles: Reproducing works of authorship, and creating derivatives of them, requires the clear consent of those who created, invested in, and otherwise made them possible in the first place. “The Association of American Publishers is proud to stand with thousands of creators and partner organizations to highlight that human authorship is the basis of Generative AI,” said Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO. “What is true is that creators operate in service to a well-read, informed, and inspired global public, not the unsanctioned, unregulated profits of big tech companies. It goes without saying that technology collaborations are a key part of publishing, but they are built on lawful licenses and respect, not a land grab.”

A new survey released by FedEx Office, a leading provider of printing, packing and shipping services and a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., shows that consumers and small business owners find comfort and prefer tangible, printed materials, despite an increasingly digital and on-demand society. More than nine in 10 consumers agreed there will always be a need for printed materials, with almost half (49 percent) of those surveyed saying a world without paper would make them feel stressed or annoyed. In the survey, FedEx Office explored the opinions of consumers and small business owners to learn more about their preferences and purchasing habits regarding professional printing services. Click Read More below for additional information.