J.K. Rowling Sells Harry Potter Ebooks Herself and They’re DRM Free
April 4th, 2012Overall, I think that this is a good development. Rowling has just routed around powerful publishers and Amazon and gone straight to people who want to buy her ebooks.
There are, however, some howlers in the terms and conditions on the Pottermore site. This is from section 12.3:
12.3 You may not and may not permit others to do any of the following things in relation to any book or extract:
§ sell, distribute, loan, share, give or lend the book or extract to any other person including to your friends (except in the limited circumstances explained at 12.1 above);
The “limited circumstances” part means that people can share the ebooks with their minor children. That’s it. But people can’t give these ebooks away. *roll eyes* Ok, lady, whatever you say.
On balance, though, DRM-free goods sold directly to customers is a very good thing.
Via: Ebook Magazine:
A lot people argue this means the DRM is invisible but it isn’t – you can’t put those books onto (for example) a Sony or Kobo reader or read them in a rival app because they can’t support Amazon’s DRM.
That means you’ll always be restricted to reading the books on the devices and app Amazon allows. The tether may be longer than with other sellers, but you’re still firmly tied to Amazon.
But the Harry Potter titles sweep those restrictions away – I can download a copy today and put the same file on my iPad or my Sony reader. And if swap either for a Kobo, I can read it on that too. The book is mine in a way no other major eBook is.
Instead of the usual restrictive DRM, the Potter books are watermarked with unique identifiers allowing the publishers to track illegally shared copies back to the original buyer.
Those who are honest can enjoy their books as often as they like and on whichever device they like while file sharers can be dealt with as the law and publisher’s will allows.
And that’s pretty much as it should be.
