Why DRM-free comic books are a big deal, even if you don’t read comics | Hacker News Reader

Why DRM-free comic books are a big deal, even if you don’t read comics

arstechnica.com

61 pointsghshephard8 comments

Tor Books, a subsidiary of Macmillan and the biggest publisher of Sci-Fi and Fantasy fiction, went DRM-free on all of its ebooks last year. They've observed "no discernible increase" in piracy since making the change.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/no-discernible-increase...

Damn. DRM-free and an issue of a Warren Ellis comic on the frontpage; they know my weaknesses.

The site seems a little underdeveloped, though. For example, SCATTERLANDS is a series, but it's only in its first section. Why can't I buy the whole lot right now and get an email when each section is released, with links to download? Do they really want to rely on me remembering to check periodically to see if the next issue's been released yet?

I'm not particularly bright on the subject but this made me recall a related development in Japan.

Shuho Sata, the author of "Burakku Jyakku ni Yoroshiku" ("Say Hello to Black Jack"), is getting set to fly without the copyright safety net. He's freeing his 10-million selling manga from the limits of copyright as a form of "second use."

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120824/10510020147/award-...

It's been available to download for free for a while, indeed, and massively advertised.

Well DRM benefits only the entities that are for various reasons gatekeepers - they have locked the users, platform or own enormous catalogs of IP. And some creators begin to realize that having some part of the audience get away with not paying for content is the lesser evil than jumping trough hoops to be able to get to the users and struggle with institutional censorship.

If you have people reading your stuff without paying you have to figure out how to monetize. If Apple/Amazon finds your work offensive/unsuitable you are DOA.

That's circular logic. They have figured out how to monetize - by utilizing DRM.

Do they have any evidence that DRM is important for this?

It baffles me that the music industry was very quick to discard DRM despite being the loudest opponent of piracy for a while, and yet everyone else is still locking down their content. And no, before someone mentions it, streaming was absolutely not a factor in their decision at the time.

2000 AD has been DRM-free for a while now -- http://shop.2000adonline.com/categories/digital

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