By NPL Publishing Consultants
A straightforward opinion from an ‘under 30’ customer of eBooks as to his view of DRM and copy protections… We were having a discussion in the family and my middle son, who is 27, Masters Degree, reads many books every month… was commenting on our issue of not being able to complete copy protect a new eBook coming out. Here are some excerpts… they may be of value when thinking about this conundrum for publishers…
Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to "protect" your eBook. Also, you have to balance that with your customers. I can't [easily] find a copy of (book) online for free, so it's safe to assume your customers aren't sharing that way. They are probably printing multiple copies, or copying chapters for use, or whatever. So you don't want to put DRM on the eBook, since that assumes you don't trust your customers and will encourage them to pirate more.
Read-only file is ok, but then you have to specify that in the ad copy, because people expect to be able to print it if they want, and they have that right. You have to think about the most honest customer, and if you're hurting them, then you're hurting the most important base of readers you have. One-time print also has the same issues.
Imagine if you bought an eBook, because you wanted to read it mostly on your computer and it's cheaper. Then, you drove to the library and wanted to print out a chapter for reading, and suddenly you couldn't. Wouldn't that encourage you to find a [possibly illegal] copy of the book that DOESN"T have silly limitations on it? There is a famous story of a guy who bought a legitimate copy of Office, for five hundred bucks, but his activation key didn't work. He contacted support, waited weeks, etc. etc. but got nowhere. Finally, he downloaded an illegal key generator, which worked, so that he could use his purchased, legitimate copy of the software. I think on the whole, it helps to trust your readers and give them open access when possible, but also you should make it clear that this isn't a huge selling book, so illegal copying does hurt the author.
Some interesting remarks and a very honest point of view. Yes, we all suffer losses from illegal copying, downloads, and ‘lending’ digital copies to others… but if we all look at our customer base as reasonably honorable people, then there is a middle ground to take when marketing eBooks.
Martin Foner
NPL Publishing Consultants, 1080 Military Turnpike, Suite 3
