Can e-Publishing Overcome Copyright Concerns?

[GeoffC]

On that basis,
you'll "see" how a car travels without its wheels, before you'll buy it?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

The amount of a book that is up for preview is pretty arbitrary. You can know in one chapter how some novels are going to go. In other books, the first half of the book can be heading a completely different direction from the second half. And are any number of chapters going to clue you into the "surprise ending"?

Therefore, the first chapters are only effective to give the reader a feel for the style of the writing, and introduce them to some of the characters. For the rest, you need a "tease," a blurb or photo that act as the commercial for the book.

Hmm...

I could've sworn there was a topic around here somewhere...

[Greg Anos]

I think you're right. Something about giving away some PDF's that got posted to the darknet, I think.......

[tirsales]

I appologize for the long post.

Originally Posted by Ramen

Not releasing ebooks will never stop this unless nobody is interested in the book. Likewise, selling DRMed ebooks will never work either.
...
People that are looking to buy a book will do so if the deal is right and they can be more or less sure they'll like the book. Focus on selling books.

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Actually, the last statement demonstrates why the first statement is inaccurate. If "the deal is right," people will buy DRM'd books. As for the second statement: DRM'd books don't have to be 100% secure, as long as the purchase process is not too upsetting to the public who wants the books, as iTunes illustrates.

No - it does not. DRM is no fair deal. When I buy a book, I want to read this book on whatever device I want. I do NOT want to even think about stuff like compatibility - I do this more than enough at work. I have little enough freetime as it is (and reading is fun - but still a hobby). I really dont want to throw any freetime away for issues like compatibility. And I want to be able to read this book in 5 years - but perhaps my Sony has died and I bought a new device, ntl I really dont want to rebuy every single book just because of this.
And no - breaking a DRM is not an option. I know how to do it, but I still try not to break any law.

So - no DRM'd deal could ever be even remotely fair. Not with music (neither my car-hifi nor my mp3-player play drm'd mp3) and certainly not with books.

DRM gives you NO security - none whatsoever. Thus it will only lead to people breaking DRM (because they want to read their books on their iLiad, after their Sony broke). Over the darknet books will continue to be available. There really is nothing you can do about this. And as there is no fair deal - people will continue to ignore drm'd ebooks and continue to download their books (or stick to p-books, thus loosing everyone money because p-books are more expensive to produce).

One remark to iTunes - it is not as successfull as you believe. And even Apple starts selling non-drmd music. They really wouldn't if there would be any point to DRM. And they would continue selling drm'd music even so knowing that it is insecure if it wouldnt piss customers off ... But it IS insecure and it DOES annoy customers - so they loose sales through DRM.

Publishers, license-holders, and a surprisingly large number of creatives (spured on by said license holders I guess) are just trying to stick to an old market like .. whatever. I guess there are three reasons:

1. Fear - they are afraid of loosing that golden calve. It was so easy to be molken for a very large number of years. They are afraid that the new market will be smaller than the old one. It is not - it is larger.
2. Ignorance - creating new business models is difficult, understanding new techniques is difficult, .. - creatives shouldn't have to wonder about those new techniques, it should be the part of the publishers.
3. Publishers are afraid of loosing money. Not because they would sell less books - but because creatives could arrogate higher profit margins (and with quite some reason).
4. (yes, I know I said three) Publishers like to sell books twice. Once as p-book and some years later (after the new technique has come - they cant change this) as e-book. It is quite possible, that they could sell their books thrice or more often - DRM-format 1, DRM-format 2, DRM-format 3, ...

One additional point should be a warning to creatives - publishers are trying to enforce the old business model to a new market. New business models would be more friendly to creatives - so why choose new business models? If the publishers continue to go this road, the following will happen:

a) Creatives will continue to get paid as lousy as they are now (and they are paid lousy, no matter what JK Rowling earns)
b) more and more people will drift from the legal market to the darknet (and in criminality) - thus you will loose money twice. Once from sticking to an old unfair business model, second from loosing sales.

The music industrie is (very, very slowing and only with much defense against it) starting to see some light - more and more music is sold via download portals, new business models (e.g. music flatrate) are evolving, and more and more people are crying for non-drm'd music. The book-industrie is screaming and kicking to stay in the dark ...

There is - in my opinion - really only one thing you can do: Start to embrace the new market and its chances. Start releasing eBooks - not just one or two, but EVERY SINGLE BOOK. Give fair deals - NO DRM, no arbitrary restrictions to specific devices or sellers (do you really believe that Amazon will continue to pay you as much as before, as soon as they have a real monopol? May I sell you some area on Mars? It has a nice view of the sun. I mean - they are enforcing lower prices for p-books and they have no monopol on them. Really try to imagine what would happen, if they had a monopol).
People will buy your e-books. You will not loose sales to the darknet - or at least not a single sale you wouldnt have thrice lost otherwise. It does not mean, that you should stop selling p-books (as long as they sell) - but e-books give you a new market. An example why? Nowadays you reduce your market to a certain geografical region. With e-books this wont happen. Via Internet I can buy your e-book from a server in Ohio, though I live in Germany. I wouldn't buy a p-book (had a look at the transportation fees).

--

BTT: Yes. eBooks can overcome copyright concerns - there really aren't any real concerns. Some years ago people predicted, that not a single piece of software will get soled nowadays (because of the darknet). What has happened? Yes, the market has changed - this is just normal behaviour. Some companys managed to adapt (and are flourishing), others tried to enforce the old models (and are mostly bancrupt). But software still has its market - and it has grown.
The same will happen to books. The question is: Will you have a share of that market?
The old models cant just be taken over, new will have to be created. This does not mean, that you should give away your products for free - in fact, I believe that creatives could earn a higher profit margin with e-books than they could with p-books. It just means, that some things will change. But hey - it has happened before and it will continue to happen. Use your chances. There is a whole new market to be conquered. Try not to leave it to a single company - it wont be good for anyone.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by tirsales

DRM is no fair deal.

That doesn't matter. What matters is, if a consumer wants a DRM'd product, and the DRM does not upset them as much as not having the product, they buy the product. Examples: iTunes; Adobe; Kindle; Electricity; Gasoline. Example of DRM'd product that does not satisfy most users: Microsoft... witness the drive to Macs and Linux.

Originally Posted by tirsales

DRM gives you NO security - none whatsoever.

Again, doesn't matter, for the same reasons described above.

Originally Posted by tirsales

Thus it will only lead to people breaking DRM (because they want to read their books on their iLiad, after their Sony broke).

I expect this fact to lead to either all e-book creators switching to ePub (or an equivalent), and allowing owners to freely convert into whatever reader they have... OR for conversion SW to be available, legally or otherwise, and used regularly. The publishers can decide which they think will be a better solution...

[tirsales]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

That doesn't matter. What matters is, if a consumer wants a DRM'd product, and the DRM does not upset them as much as not having the product, they buy the product. Examples: iTunes; Adobe; Kindle; Electricity; Gasoline. Example of DRM'd product that does not satisfy most users: Microsoft... witness the drive to Macs and Linux.

That is correct so far - but with e-books (at least nowadays) DRM DOES upset customers - it restricts them to a single POS and a single device. And that will annoy customers.
Where is the difference to iTunes? The iPod is a very nice Player, with its sister products it fullfills every need. The Kindle e.g. does not. Neither does Sony or any other single device. So - you would have to decide for a subset of functionality, and noone likes to do that.
And btw: iTunes again is switching.

I expect this fact to lead to either all e-book creators switching to ePub (or an equivalent), and allowing owners to freely convert into whatever reader they have... OR for conversion SW to be available, legally or otherwise, and used regularly. The publishers can decide which they think will be a better solution...

Í agree.
ePub (or similar) would be the only solution giving a certain market share - if I already have to break a law why not get the book for free? After all a) I am already upset (no service, etc) and b) the punishment will be the same (at least under German law. And no, I am not kidding).

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by tirsales

That is correct so far - but with e-books (at least nowadays) DRM DOES upset customers - it restricts them to a single POS and a single device. And that will annoy customers.
Where is the difference to iTunes? The iPod is a very nice Player, with its sister products it fullfills every need. The Kindle e.g. does not. Neither does Sony or any other single device. So - you would have to decide for a subset of functionality, and noone likes to do that.
And btw: iTunes again is switching.



Í agree.
ePub (or similar) would be the only solution giving a certain market share - if I already have to break a law why not get the book for free? After all a) I am already upset (no service, etc) and b) the punishment will be the same (at least under German law. And no, I am not kidding).

That's not exactly true. Mobipocket ebooks can be purchased through, among others, BooksOnBoard, Fictionwise and Mobipocket. Plus, once I've registered my PIDs from each device I own, I can then read the *ONE* ebook purchased on any of the registered devices. So while I don't *like* DRM, I find Mobipocket DRM to be the *LEAST OBJECTIONABLE* and have decided it's uncomplicated enough for me to continue to buy. I think many others have discovered the same thing.

Derek

[tirsales]

I was referring to e.g. the Amazon Kindle. And I am restricted to devices supporting Mobipocket - e.g. my Sony reader does not support Mobipocket.
And wouldn't it be *better* if you just didn't need to worry about DRM? About compatibility issues and stuff? Just buy in whatever shop you want and read on whatever device you want?
Yeah, perhaps I shouldn't have taken that last green "have a nice dream"-pill

[Greg Anos]

Well, you're betting with your money that Mobipocket will still be viable 10, 20, 40, or more years..... With non-DRM'ed e-books, you're not making that bet.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Well, you're betting with your money that Mobipocket will still be viable 10, 20, 40, or more years..... With non-DRM'ed e-books, you're not making that bet.

True, but which is more likely: Mobipocket being unavailable or Sony BBeBook being unavailable in 20 years? Remember, it's not just the e-ink readers, it's the PDAs, smartphones and PCs which support Mobi...

I grant that non-DRM ebooks will be most supportable.

Derek

[Greg Anos]

My guess is that Mobi, Sony BBeB, and Kindle will not be supported in 20 years, but HTML will be (or at least free converter will be available to convert it to whatever supercedes it...)

[tirsales]

Have a look at DRM in music. Then extrapolate.
NONE of the drm-systems available on the market today will be available in 20 years. Not a single one. Perhaps there will be converters or you will be able to download your book bought today in the new .mobi3-format. Probably is not likely.

You would have to hope that
a) the company keeps their user-, account- and bookshelf-information for 20-years - which they dont want to do for a variety of reasons
b) the company allows you to download the book in a new drm-format - which they dont need to do
c) the company doesnt loose its contract with the given publisher - thus not being able to let you download the book in the new format, even if they want
d) the company still exists
etc etc
And dont get your hopes up with PDAs or PCs. No one knows what kind of system will be used in 20 years. Just one thing is sure: It wont be anything like todays systems.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by tirsales

Have a look at DRM in music. Then extrapolate.
NONE of the drm-systems available on the market today will be available in 20 years. Not a single one. Perhaps there will be converters or you will be able to download your book bought today in the new .mobi3-format. Probably is not likely.

You would have to hope that
a) the company keeps their user-, account- and bookshelf-information for 20-years - which they dont want to do for a variety of reasons
b) the company allows you to download the book in a new drm-format - which they dont need to do
c) the company doesnt loose its contract with the given publisher - thus not being able to let you download the book in the new format, even if they want
d) the company still exists
etc etc
And dont get your hopes up with PDAs or PCs. No one knows what kind of system will be used in 20 years. Just one thing is sure: It wont be anything like todays systems.

You know... You're all forgetting one thing. In 20-30 years I may well be dead.

Derek

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by tirsales

ePub (or similar) would be the only solution giving a certain market share - if I already have to break a law why not get the book for free? After all a) I am already upset (no service, etc) and b) the punishment will be the same (at least under German law. And no, I am not kidding).

I speed a little and occasionally jaywalk, too, but I don't steal. They're all illegal, granted with widely varying penalties, but they are also different ethical decisions. I'm fine with the idea of stripping the DRM off a book I've paid for to preserve my use of it even if it may violate a law. I'm not ok with taking a book without the owners being compensated for it. IME, people who are ok with illegal downloading will do it regardless. I don't think the act of stripping the DRM off will somehow convince folks who respect intellectual property that they no longer have to do so.

[dottedmag]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

You know... You're all forgetting one thing. In 20-30 years I may well be dead.

Paper books last for centuries and your children will inherit them. DRMed e-books will disappear (unless you circumvent the DRM scheme, which is outlawed). There is nice picture summarizing the idea: