Fifteen companies, including Sony Corp., have established a joint venture to provide paid electronic publishing services to member customers, Sony and four other major partners said Thursday.
The other four firms are publishers Shinchosha Co. and Kodansha Ltd., and printing firms Dai Nippon Printing Co. and Toppan Printing Co.
The new company, Publishing link Ltd., will distribute the publishers' book content over the Internet and Sony will sell electronic book players. The service is scheduled to begin in spring, the companies said.
Under their plan, members can download content and read it using personal computers and electronic book players for a two-month period for each book.
Capitalized at 487.5 million yen, the new company is owned 41.03 percent by Sony, 15.38 percent each by Shinchosha and Kodansha and 10.26 percent each by Dai Nippon Printing and Toppan Printing.
The remaining stakes are held by 10 other firms, including Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun.