E-books turned into NFTS to give publishers cut of resales

PUBLISHERS are aiming to finally make money from second-hand books by turning them into non-fungible tokens (NFTS).

Until now, publishers have only benefited from the first sale, including for texts in e-book format.

But Pearson plans to modify its texts into NFTS, allowing them to profit from sales in the second-hand market.

Andy Bird, the education publisher’s chief executive, said blockchain technology would allow it to place trackable codes in its digital school and university textbooks, letting the firm take a slice of any resale by a student or college.

Blockchain technology should allow Pearson to demand payment each time its academic guides change hands. Mr Bird said: “In the analogue world, a Pearson textbook was re-sold up to seven times. We would only participate in the first sale, and it created what is known as the secondary market.

“The move to digital helps us diminish the secondary market, and technology like blockchain and NFTS allows us to participate in every sale of that particular item as it goes through its life.”

NFTS are an offshoot of cryptocurrencies that allow digital items to be given a unique code. The idea is to prevent duplication and track ownership.

NFTS have mainly been applied in the art world and took off during the pandemic. However, the trade has fallen recently. Chainalysis, a crypto research firm, said NFT sales totalled just over $1billion (£821million) in June, having peaked at $12.6billion in January.