Cover art and DRM

[kiwipippa]

I have read the various posts about cover art and DRM, but I haven't found a solution to my problem (and there may not be one!).

I have bought 4 books with DRM and none of them has come with a cover. I contacted the publisher (Hatchette) and was told that whilst they have rights to the book they sometimes don't have rights to the cover image, hence the e-book has no cover - which is also confirmed in various threads on here.

This makes no sense to me, its like taking your book to the counter and having the shop assistant rip the cover off! A 5th book I bought (Harper Collins) had a pseudo cover - a thick border down one side with different font but still nothing like the cover shown in the store. I know it makes no difference to the content, but I do like to see a cover when my kobo sleeps!

I can easily add covers in Calibre to non DRM books and these transfer easily to my kobo. But no luck with DRM books because you can't convert them.

Is it just bad luck that the books I have bought have no covers, or have others found this as well? It doesn't seem as rare as what the publishers have led me to believe - 5 out of 5 with no cover!

And to solve my problem, is there any way I can edit on the kobo to add a cover to a DRM book?

Thanks

[viviena]

I find a lot (not all, though) of the DRMed books I've bought are lacking proper covers, or at least they're nothing more than simple text superimposed over a clipart image of a book or something similar.

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

And to solve my problem, is there any way I can edit on the kobo to add a cover to a DRM book?

No, not on the Kobo itself. The only thing I can think of is stripping the DRM off an ebook. You can then use Calibre to easily add a cover of your own choosing, which is what I've done several times. Past the initial setup, stripping DRM is pretty easy and quick to do, but is also questionable in terms of legality. Specifics aren't discussed on MR, but searching Google with the relevant keywords will usually set you on the right track.

Otherwise, I don't think there's much you can do.

[wallcraft]

It is fairly common to have either no cover or a generic cover. I see this perhaps 30% of the time.

If you strip the DRM, then Calibre can add a cover. In the US, stripping DRM for personal use only (e.g. to add a cover or fix typos or use a different ebook reader) is probably legal, although there is no definitive case law. As a practical matter, if it is for personal use who would know (or care)?

[pleochroic]

no, it's not rare at all, and it seems to affect big publishers much more than small niche ones. all my smut has the original covers, while my rex stout mysteries and a lot of science fiction have unimaginative ersatz covers instead. that's really annoying, since i make covers even for books i create myself from documentation -- i'm very visually oriented and when quickly glancing at my library covers give important cues; especially since the kobo's library management is so rudimentary.

this adds just one more reason to why i hate DRM, why i prefer to buy non-DRMed books, and why i have few qualms about breaking the DRM on books i do buy.

breaking the DRM for your own personal use might not be illegal in your country, but i suspect adding the original cover is theoretically a copyright violation. but yeah, who is to know?

the publishing industry is probably responsible for creating as many "pirates" as greed is.

[ChristopherTD]

But DRM isn't really the problem here, it merely makes it difficult to add your own cover. The cover isn't removed by the DRM, it was never there.