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D is for Digital Rights Management (DRM) – #AtoZChallenge

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From E-BookBuilders - Helping Authors Build Better Books

Digital Rights Management – one of the few things that polarizes the publishing arena. Some are rabidly against DRM and some strictly for it. Both sides have valid points.

Against DRM

  • more readers
  • ebook is able to be put on any e-reading device
  • if ebook gets pirated more people will read it
  • usually those against DRM in the indie arena are the ones who have a name for themselves and sold vast amounts of books – you know who they are; they had traditional contracts and split to keep all the profits themselves – not that there is a damn thing wrong with that.

For DRM

  • those who know the hard work and expense involved in bring an ebook to fruition
  • individuals with a publishing background
  • people who don’t want their work stolen
  • someone who steals an ebook may never read it, much less review it

I make no secret of the fact that I think DRM is a good thing for authors and publishers. Yes, I would like to be able to read books I buy from Amazon on my Nook, or those I buy from B&N on my Fire, but with apps I can read these ebooks on my computer, phone or tablet, so is it really a big deal? No, not to me anyway. I have ‘library management’ software that allows me to keep all these files current and easily accessible (and with a few tweaks anyone can break the DRM and convert the epub to mobi or vice versa, but that’s another story). Am I uploading these files to pirate sites? No, I paid good money for them, so I am not going to give them to people that haven’t invested a dime. I can, however, loan my mobi files through Amazon to my friends, and have done so often. Works for all of us. I am like a library to my friends since I have over 4000 ebooks in my mobi library alone. 

goHastings

The long and the short of the matter is, how much value do you place on your time and effort? Neil Gaiman can have no problem with piracy but he is already a ‘name’ in his genre circles. When he finds other die-hard genre fans it will only improve his bottom line, but if every one of his ebooks were pirated and every possible reader of his genre were hitting PirateBay and other darkweb sites, and Gaiman’s royalties took a nose dive, do you think he would still be pro-piracy and anti-DRM?

When you are trying to make a living through your writing – when it is your only source of income to feed, shelter and clothe yourself and your family – then you have a dog in the fight. Until then, shut your piehole. And if you are trying to make your living from your writing, why would you advertise your ebooks as available through sites that neither offer nor believe in DRM? Do you not realize that these DRM-free files are the ones that are getting uploaded and shared?

Do not even try to compare music DRM to literary DRM. Radio stations play music non-stop for people to listen to, libraries offer books and ebooks for checkout but they are not broadcast 24/7 on the internet. Apples to oranges, my friends.

 

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The post D is for Digital Rights Management (DRM) – #AtoZChallenge appeared first on E-BookBuilders.


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