Author: Gareth Jones

Publisher members

Cultureshock

Cultureshock has over 25 creative and publishing specialists in their London office, as well as representatives in LA and New York who have worked with many of the world’s leading brands.

Their team of arts and culture specialists create and distribute content – whether it’s magazines, books, websites, or films – that is commercially viable, of the highest editorial standard, immediately credible, creative, fresh, and bold.

SheerLuxe

SheerLuxe first launched in 2007 as a directory of online retailers. But today, it’s one of the UK’s leading online fashion and lifestyle publishers.

Alongside a wealth of editorial content – covering everything from fashion and beauty to culture and opinion – readers have 360° access to the SheerLuxe lifestyle through social media, digital events, podcasts, behind-the-scenes series, The SheerLuxe Show, and more.

Infopro Digital

Infopro Digital is a B2B group of digital entrepreneurs winning new markets and clients. They dedicate their digital expertise to serving businesses, professionals, and local governments – helping clients to make informed decisions, achieve long-term gains in efficiency, and get ahead of the competition by adopting the latest technologies.

Infopro Digital’s expertise in their clients’ industries means they can anticipate client needs and build lasting relationships. Driven by action and innovation, their close-knit and diverse teams do whatever it takes to achieve great results for their clients, colleagues, and communities.

You can view all PPA publisher members here. Explore publisher member benefits and find out more about joining the PPA here.

Associate members

Exact Editions

Exact Editions work with publishers to sell and stream fully searchable digital editions. They specialise in digitising content across web and app platforms, selling subscriptions to individuals and institutions, and providing cutting-edge streaming solutions.

FADEL PictureDesk

FADEL PictureDesk provides publishers with a single cloud-based platform to search, store, and monetise published articles and digital assets.

SmartFrame

SmartFrame provides robust image control, presentation, and monetization solutions. They offer a patented image streaming technology that allows content owners to retain control of their images and generate revenue from their display.

Warners Circulation Solutions

For over 35 years, Warners Circulation Solutions has been the trusted partner for publishers of all sizes, from major household brands to small family-run businesses. Offering a comprehensive and proven ‘total circulation’ service, their experienced team works closely with clients to deliver tailored strategies that drive measurable, bottom-line results.

Writers’ Bloc

With over twenty years’ experience in print and digital publishing, Writers’ Bloc understand the unique and constantly evolving demands of content creation. They are experts at matching brilliant talent with outstanding brands. Their bespoke search service is tailored to every client and project, to find the right talent for your business.

Discover the opportunities available to get your brand in front of our members here. Associate members have direct access to 250+ multi-platform members across the entire ecosystem of specialist media.

You can view all PPA associate members here.

Kicking off the anniversary, February issue cover star Cynthia Erivo talks to journalist Afua Hirsch about the joy of starring in Wicked, her journey to self-acceptance, and future career aspirations. In partnership with Louis Vuitton, ELLE UK will bring the pages of the issue to life with an intimate cocktail reception on 23 January.

In the forty years since its launch, ELLE has established itself as a leading brand celebrated for bringing together established and emerging names within the creative industry. Building on this legacy, in 2025 ELLE will expand its Generation Next programme, offering emerging designers an opportunity to accelerate their career and gain support from experts within the fashion industry.

The winner of the recently-announced Generation Next prize, which will be judged by fashion designers including Simone Rocha and Marco Capaldo, and includes a cash grant and mentoring from business leader Eric Collins, will be announced next month ahead of London Fashion Week.

Kenya Hunt, Editor-in-Chief, ELLE UK, says: ‘We are proud to celebrate ELLE’s 40^th anniversary in the UK. From the rising-star designers and cultural figures to know, to energising ways to style our wardrobes that reflect our new reality, ELLE has always been a place of discovery ahead of its time. We look forward to marking this milestone with a year of events that pay tribute to legends from our past, while introducing you to the rising powerhouses who will define our next 40 years.”

There will also be numerous events bringing together members from the ELLE COLLECTIVE – the brand’s fashion and beauty membership community launched in 2023 – for exclusive access to behind-the-scenes content, inspiring advice from editors and industry experts, as well as the opportunity to meet designers, stylists, thought-leaders, and creatives.

Other activations to mark this milestone will include a series of performances, screenings, and talks to celebrate the trailblazers across fashion, art, film, music, sustainability, and politics who will define the next 40 years.

The February issue is on newsstands now.  ELLE US will also be celebrating its 40^th anniversary in 2025.

Bauer Media has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Clear Channel Europe -North, a significant player in the Out of Home media sector with a strong portfolio of digital assets. The transaction is expected to close in 2025, upon satisfaction of regulatory approvals.

The acquisition extends Bauer Media’s European coverage, including seven markets where they already have an established presence, and five new markets for the company (United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Sweden).

The addition of Clear Channel Europe will widen Bauer’s offer to advertisers, with more consumer touchpoints, enabling the delivery of more impactful campaigns across the European region.

Yvonne Bauer, Chair, Bauer Media Board said: “The acquisition of Clear Channel Europe represents a pivotal step in advancing our Group’s refocused strategy. By enhancing our core media and related businesses while investing in our digital transformation, this move broadens our capabilities and strengthens our position as a major player in the highly competitive media industry.

Bringing together our two companies’ offerings will enable us to reach 350 million consumers through 200 magazine brands, 150 Audio brands, and 110,000 Out of Home sites across Europe. This expands the scope of what we can offer advertisers, in turn giving them the opportunity to amplify the impact and relevance of their campaigns in an increasingly connected and digital world.

“We look forward to welcoming the Clear Channel team to Bauer Media. Together, we will create a comprehensive and innovative media offering that meets the evolving needs of our advertisers and audiences across the region,”

Justin Cochrane, CEO, Clear Channel Outdoor UK & Europe added: “We look forward to joining Bauer Media to build upon the strong foundation that we have established in these European markets as a part of Clear Channel Outdoor. The consistent top-line performance of our Europe-North assets year-to-date underscores the growing demand in these markets and the dedication of our teams to executing for our clients and partners.”

Clear Channel Europe’s leadership team will continue to lead the Out of Home operations and the 1,400 staff.

Bauer Media’s lead M&A adviser was LionTree Advisers. Reed Smith served as legal adviser. The company was also advised by OOH Capital, Deloitte, and Herbert Smith Freehills.

Content is a precious commodity for publishers, meaning instances of illegal copying come at a cost. Here, in the first of two articles, Matt Aspinall, Head of Commercial Services at NLA Media Access explores the issue of digital copyright infringement, revealing its impact on publishers in the UK and US, and looking at how they are fighting back with NLA’s Text Tracker tool.

Plagiarism, copying and appropriation have been a problem for original thinkers and creators throughout history. And while it might manifest itself in very different ways, this issue continues to have troubling implications for publishers today.

A particular concern is where original journalism is scraped from a website, potentially from behind a paywall, and then republished on a ‘pirate’ site. Less often, but potentially more damaging, is where entire publisher websites are copied, creating a clone of the original.

Copied content and cloned sites

While it manifests itself in very different ways, the issue of copying remains a problem for creators and publishers today. A particular concern is where original journalism is scraped from a website and then republished on a ‘pirate’ site, with paywalled sites not immune to this risk. Increasingly, there are damaging instances of entire publisher websites being copied, creating a clone of the original.

The financial model driving this piracy is typically around monetising the stolen content through programmatic advertising. Because of the valuable nature of publisher content, it is used as a lure to attract audiences, often supported by Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategies to increase the numbers of eyeballs. These page impressions then translate into advertising revenue gains for the host domain, disregarding the investment in journalistic and publishing talent.

At the same time, they reflect lost revenues for the publisher. This includes potential income from advertising and content licensing as well as missed opportunities to connect with interested and engaged audiences that would, potentially, become valuable subscribers.

A tool for taking action

The Text Tracker tool, developed by NLA Media Access, proactively scans the web to identify bad actors using publisher content. Once identified and verified as infringements, NLA ensures these articles or entire websites are taken down. In 2023 alone, Text Tracker took down almost three-quarters of a million copied articles.

This service addresses another of the major costs associated with content theft: time. In many cases, the task of tackling piracy falls to in-house teams across multiple departments, and it can be a major distraction.

John Crewe, Data Protection Officer at Haymarket Media, Inc., has responsibility for data, legal and compliance matters of the US-based media company. Haymarket had detected instances of copyright infringement affecting its business-to-business focused titles, but prior to working with NLA, managing the issue in-house was neither scalable nor comprehensive. 

“It was a case of content teams identifying instances of infringement and we would handle individually through cease and desist notices and take down requests with the hosting providers. Despite the diligence of our teams in spotting illegal use, it became apparent that there was more to uncover,” he says.

Tackling a hidden problem

John points to the fact that no single person is likely to have responsibility for content protection; publishers rarely have a single person focused on IP enforcement. The situation is compounded by the fact that many of these instances lack legitimate businesses to deal with or any contact information. Domains could be hidden behind a veil of anonymity and escalating the issue to the hosting provider did not guarantee a response. “That’s where things would get more involved,” says John.

With Text Tracker, however, Haymarket Media has a method to increase its vigilance while also removing the task of issuing takedowns from the in-house team – and all in a scalable package. The initial infringement findings and successful take down results led to the publisher expanding the use of Text Tracker in its first year, more than tripling the number of titles covered by the service.

Costing time and money

For William Reed, publisher of titles including The Grocer, copyright infringement is an issue that has historically taken many forms, from wholesale lifting of large proportions of content to more random instances of individual articles being copied.

“We knew stuff was out there,” says Company Secretary Robert Proctor, “we just weren’t sure how serious the problem was. It was an irritant for us as a business.”

Robert highlights that content theft also became a drain on internal resources, with the company seeking support from external lawyers in large-scale protracted disputes. While these cases may eventually result in success, it was consuming an unwelcome amount of time and money.

William Reed already had a strong working relationship with NLA, and when Text Tracker was presented as a platform for managing the problem of content theft, Robert says it was an obvious choice. What was a costly irritant has quickly become a low-level problem that is consistently and cost-effectively managed.

“Text Tracker is a useful and easy way of ensuring this isn’t a problem for us. It’s saving us time and keeping it under control.”

An investment in content protection

In many ways, managing the risk of content theft can be seen as an unfortunate but essential part of being a 21^st-century digital-first publisher, where copying and copyright infringement are never far from the surface – a situation that has only been reinforced by the advent of generative AI.

With tools such as Text Tracker, however, publishers have the technology to protect their content and cover the investment in creativity that remains at the heart of their business.

To find out more email copyrightinfringement@nla.co.uk