Should I DRM my own ebook when selling?

[Eisengoth]

There are a lot of differing opinions on this subject, but here's mine!

If you're an unknown, obscurity is a far, FAR greater threat to you than piracy. If your work is good, people will pirate it, and then you will become better known. There are many studies in recent days showing that piracy actually INCREASES overall sales, because people get to try your work first, and your overall name recognition goes up.

In the tech world, which it sounds like you are targeting, there are many people who are outright offended by DRM. You may actually be turning away customers because of your practices, instead of encouraging them - plus, if someone really wants to, it's not like it takes much to strip DRM off of any file.

DRM is just a hassle, and especially in your target market, you're just going to be turning people off. If anything, IP laws are only going to get stricter (see the PROTECT IP act) and there is nothing in copyright law which requires you defend it. But frankly, if your business plan includes suing people who pirate your work, you might as well just quit now.

[VydorScope]

As for the illegal coping issue, the greatest danger to a new author is not pirates, its anonymity.

I like how Mark at Smashwords put it:

The biggest threat facing authors and publishers today is not piracy, it's obscurity. Anything that makes a book less accessible and less enjoyable makes it more obscure.

Many successful companies (I am looking at you Macfee) have been built on the success driven on not fighting pirates and not using any protection at all. From an ebook perspective this is a great fairly short write up on the topic:

http://blog.smashwords.com/2011/03/r...s-against.html

Several news reports have come out over the years stating pirates have been shown to INCREASE sales. They do not get much play because its counter intuitive so people do not seem to listen.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by avantman42

I've not seen anyone suggest that DRM is a useful legal tool before. Why do you say that? Is it because it's illegal to circumvent DRM in some jurisdictions?

In part. But also, using DRM is a defacto indication that the author/publisher intends for the material to be protected from undesired uses like copying and dissemination, unless they say otherwise. That can carry weight in a court of law.

Originally Posted by HarryT

PDF should be avoided like the plague!

Don't listen to him! Your highly-technical reading on their work PC audience will thank you! (Hey, is that Kool-Aid in Harry's cup? Knock it away!)

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

In part. But also, using DRM is a defacto indication that the author/publisher intends for the material to be protected from undesired uses like copying and dissemination, unless they say otherwise. That can carry weight in a court of law.

Surely a copyright notice is a perfectly good indication that the author/publisher doesn't intend for the material to be copied without permission?

[user_none]

Originally Posted by avantman42

Surely a copyright notice is a perfectly good indication that the author/publisher doesn't intend for the material to be copied without permission?

A notice is not even required. Unless otherwise noted all rights are automatically reserved.

Everything you post here on this forum is your original work which is covered by copyright. You don't have to put up any notice and someone can't come along and use you work without your permission (unless it constitutes fair use). The same applies to your own website or any other work.

Putting a copyright notice is optional in the USA as of about 1990. However, if there is confusion about the copyright such as typesetting a public domain work not having a notice can lead to an innocent infringement defense.

That said DRM does not add any additional legal weight that a copyright notice does not already provided. Also just because a work is locked by DRM that does not necessarily mean it is under copyright. There are plenty of instances of people selling public domain works from places like project Gutenberg with DRM.