Pearson Says Blockchain Could Make It Money Every Time E-Books Change Hands

The chief executive officer of Pearson, one of the world's largest textbook publishers, said he hopes technology like non-fungible tokens and the blockchain could help the company take a cut from secondhand sales of its materials as more books go online. From a report: The print editions of Pearson's titles -- such as 'Fundamentals of Nursing,' which sells new for $70.88 -- can be resold several times to other students without making the London-based education group any money. As more textbooks move to digital, CEO Andy Bird wants to change that. 'In the analogue world, a Pearson textbook was resold up to seven times, and we would only participate in the first sale,' he told reporters following the London-based company's interim results on Monday, talking about technological opportunities for the company. 'The move to digital helps 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,' by tracking the material's unique identifier on the ledger from 'owner A to owner B to owner C,' said Bird, a former Disney executive.

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