Monday, July 2, 2012

Copyright - who controls digital rights?



On Thursday (June 6, 2012), TOR publishers of Science Fiction made a bold move in the world of publishing. They are releasing books without DRM (Digital Rights Management). That’s correct. In an age of copyright protection that seems too tight, this publisher is releasing e-books that won’t inhibit loaning and copying e-books. Of course, you have to purchase the books, but after that, you can lend them to your friends  http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/tor-books-announces-e-book-store-doctorow-scalzi-a-stross-talk-drm-free Stross said “Going DRM-free changes this business perspective and makes e-books more similar to their physical counterparts.” I have to agree with his statement.

Does this change the role of lending libraries when it comes to e-books? Will TOR partner with libraries to make their titles available for unlimited loans? This is certainly a big step for the e-book industry. It will be interesting to see if other publishers follow suit.

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