Alberto Vitale was running Bantam Books, the world leader in paperbacks, when the Newhouse family recruited him to become the COO of Random House. In that role, and later as the CEO of one of the world’s top publishing firms, Vitale oversaw huge changes in the publishing industry. In this interview with Stephen J. Kobrin , publisher and executive director of Wharton Digital Press , and Knowledge at Wharton , Vitale discusses the rise of digital publishing, the future of bookstores and the globalization of copyright, among other issues. An edited transcript of the interview appears below. You can hear the complete interview via the audio link and watch part of it on video. Knowledge at Wharton : You took over as the CEO of Random House in 1989. What was your career in publishing before that? How did that lead to your role at Random House? Alberto Vitale: I headed a team that bought, in 1975, Bantam Books for the Agnelli family … the [principal] owners of Fiat. I got to know the Bantam executives very well.…