If we’re heading for an all-digital media future, we need better digital ownership rights

ScreenHub Australia has framed the central question in its headline: an all-digital media trajectory demands stronger digital ownership rights for the reader. A Fact.MR forecast places 2026 global digital media spend at USD 1,176.1 billion, projected to reach USD 4,063.7 billion by 2036 at a 13.2% CAGR, with USD 2,887.6 billion in absolute opportunity. The growth concentrates in Video (37.2% of 2026 share), Smartphone (45.4%), and Marketing & Advertising (33%) — categories defined by access rather than ownership. For readers building ePaper archives and PDF newspaper collections, the structural mismatch is direct.

Market structure and the Text segment

Fact.MR's segmentation notes that Text "remains central to news or professional information services," but the leading growth vectors sit elsewhere. Per-country CAGRs through 2036: China 14.2%, Japan 14.1%, Germany 12.4%, United States 11.7%, United Kingdom 11.6%. The leading formats — Video, Smartphone, advertising-supported streaming — operate on licensed access. Netflix took its Ads Suite live in the United States and Canada in May 2025, scheduling EMEA expansion the following week, illustrating the platform-owned ad-tech pattern. Text rides along inside the same device-time envelope, but it is not the segment driving the absolute growth.

For newspaper and ePaper access, the practical question is binary: does the subscription deliver a transferable file, or only a revocable license? ScreenHub's argument — that better digital ownership rights are a precondition — applies most acutely to this segment, where the absence of a standardized ownership layer leaves long-term archives exposed to provider outages, app discontinuation, and license renegotiation.

Specification criteria for ePaper and PDF subscriptions

Two reference measurements define the device-time envelope competing with reading apps. Eurostat reported in July 2025 that 79% of EU internet users watched television or video online during 2024. Ofcom reported in December 2025 that UK adults averaged 4.5 hours online per day in May 2025. Both figures are video-weighted; the relevant point for archive building is that the same envelope is where ePaper access lives.

A four-point ownership specification is the empirical test for any newspaper subscription:

1. File format on download — PDF, EPUB, or proprietary container.

2. DRM scope — none, watermarked, or hard DRM.

3. Post-cancellation re-download window, expressed in days or defined as perpetual.

4. License jurisdiction and assignment terms.

None of these is typically disclosed in marketing copy. Each maps to a specific digital ownership right, and the absence of any one reduces the subscription to a rental.

Verdict

The data converges on a single directive: treat digital ownership rights as a primary specification, not a marketing claim. The 13.2% CAGR through 2036 does not mitigate this; it sharpens the consequence, because the digital media market will scale under access-based models regardless of reader preference. A recent appointment of Alex Tingle as Global Head of Digital Infrastructure Banking at Jefferies is an indicator that the infrastructure layer — and the rights attached to it — is now being treated as an institutional asset class. For long-term newspaper archive builders, the implication is to verify format, DRM, archival access, and license terms before committing to multi-year terms, and to maintain redundant local PDF copies where the provider's terms permit.