Science fiction publisher Tor, an imprint of Macmillan USA, is making its entire ebook list free of digital rights management (DRM) as of July this year, along with sister imprints Forge, Orb and Starscape.The article in Forbes claims that the time is overdue to remove DRM because DRM is "a meagre fig leaf of protection against piracy because anyone who really wants to copy a book will find that circumvention is trivially easy." (Course, that "anyone" doesn't include me since I can have trouble turning on my iPad, let alone messing with the inner workings of an eBook or digital device.)
There have been times that I've downloaded and read a book on my iPad that I know my husband would like. But I don't even know how to share it to his iPad.
What do you think of removing DRM from eBooks?
I think the whole thing lacks much protection for those how are determined. Maybe one day my eBooks will have the same form of protection as music. Once one person in the family has bought a paperback there is no problem with sharing, so why not eBooks, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI've always been confused about what this actually does as lending is allowed on most books on Amazon. And what about library e-books? the KDP Select program with Amazon allows people to "borrow" e-books if they are a member and then the authors get a percentage of the membership price for that month depending on the membership fees that month. I'm not sure how lending works on the other books that aren't part of the program. As always, everyone seems to make money except the author.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Smashwords has never used DRM for that reason and Kindle now gives you the choice when you upload your book.
ReplyDeleteThey say that obscurity is more deadly to an author than piracy and a person who would illegally download a book isn't going to buy it anyway. Piracy is an annoying fact of life. *shrug*
Like you said, those who really want to pirate the book will find a way. I wonder how many other publishers will follow suit?
ReplyDeleteSince one can share physical books it only seems fair.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of lending e-books. I know with paperbacks, a loaner has lead me to seek out and even purchase other books by that author. That's true of music, too. I shared a tune with my sister - she ended up purchasing the whole CD. Yes, it's a gamble, but I think it does pay off.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be people who can get around whatever coding is used to protect books. The thing is that back in the days when Xerox came out with the first copy machines, publishers were worried about people copying books and selling them thus stealing profits and copyrights from the publishers. Some of that happened, but publishers are still around, although currently having to face new realities.
ReplyDeleteHaving DRM is just one more way to force people to buy more copies of the same book, or CD, to put money in the pockets of book and music publishers. There will always be pirates and people who will get what they need from pirates because they can't afford the exorbitant prices put on ebooks.
None of my books have DRM and I often upload free copies of my books to torrents so that people can read what I write. My blog posts are free and I'll not get rich, but I believe that writing a good book will interest some people in buying a copy. I'm all for removing DRM.
I figure the more books of mine that out there in circulation, the better the chance that my genius will be discovered and the sooner I'll be showered with accolades, interviews on the morning shows, movie deals, and cameo roles on sit coms. Then maybe I'll be able to afford a staff of ghost writers who can crank out a book a month so I can retire in the luxury I wish to get used to.
ReplyDeleteQuite a few authors with more experience in e-publishing than I have have been encouraging us to avoid DRM, precisely for the reasons given in the article you cited. It is good to see my author friend's opinions seconded by other professionals.
ReplyDeleteI dislike this DRM thing. That's why I stopped buying music on iTunes Store (after buying two albums). You can reuse the DRM code 5 times, which means that when you have bought a new lap top and a new iPod and changed the computer at work a couple of times, you can't listen to the music you have bought legally.
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven
Since I tend to have computer crashes, I'd quickly go through that 5 uses limitation!
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