Answers.Body: <p>Self-published authors (who are going to be the only authors with the opportunity to decide on DRM vs DRM-free) will need a support mechanism for handling DRM-related problems. After all, any distraction from writing limits your income (see the famous clam sundae digression, p.25  in RA Heinlein's <em>The Cat Who Walked Through Walls</em> for an example.)</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-12-30T20:01:12.273Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-12-30T20:01:12.273Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: K7AAY
Answers.Body: <p>DRM doesn't work so why bother with it. I've stopped putting DRM's on my books. I've had no more or less piracy. So the benefit of DRM which is to protect your books. Well it doesn't so again why bother.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-01-13T02:01:21.590Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-01-13T02:01:21.590Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Nix Whittaker
Answers.Body: <p><strong>Briefly :</strong> Watermarks do offer some protection with very limited risk or disadvantage.</p>
  
  <p>If you wish only facts, I can tell of my own experience.</p>
  
  <p>My first point is that, for many reasons including some that I will
  not elaborate because you might consider them opinions, I just do not
  buy books with DRM.  I have more DRM-free good book than time to read
  them.  I know other people who do the same.</p>
  
  <p>One reason that it is definitely a fact is that DRM are often a way
  for the vendor to keep control over the book, and, for example, it may
  allow him to erase the book from my library at any time. See for
  example the infamous <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1994 book deletion by Amazon</a>. Less
  conspicuously, it may allow the vendor to spy on my reading
  activity</p>
  
  <p>This control may also imply that accessibility to my own books may be
  contingent on the vendor staying in business, and there is no knowing
  at this time how the ebook market will evolve.</p>
  
  <p>Snooping on customers and profiling them is a major (marketable)
  resource for large corporations such as Amazon and other big
  publishers/retailers. This may motivate DRM, beyond authors
  protection (see further remarks on author protection), since DRM forces
  the user to regularly connect his reading device. Howver it is of
  nearly no utility to authors. But the digital infrastructure needed to
  manage <strong>indefinitely</strong> the DRM for every copy sold is very costly for an
  author on his own, or for a small publisher (I discussed it with one
  small publisher / retailer) though it is much more manageable for larger
  commercial structures.</p>
  
  <p>The reason usually invoked for DRM is the protection of authors'
  copyrights. When I started using ebooks, I knew much about digital
  copyright (I have been working and even publishing about it), but very little
  of the actual ebook market for a private customer, for such things as
  prices (list prices and actual prices), available formats, types of
  DRM used, existing retailers, sales organization, etc.</p>
  
  <p>So I tried to see how I could get digital versions of books I already
  owned, so as to focus on the type of books I was interested in. I
  discovered that most of these books (mainly SFF classics) were either
  in the public domain or sold with DRM. But before I found that, I
  discovered very quickly several sites that were making them available
  for free. Not legally of course.  The conclusion is that DRM do not
  afford really strong protection. They merely discourage people who
  will not try hard to break them.</p>
  
  <p>Now, a cheap way to get weak protection to discourage illegal copying
  is to use <strong>watermarking</strong>, i.e. information inserted in the book to
  identify the original buyer, so that he will hesitate to incriminate
  himself by duplicating the book for the benefit of others. This
  require no cosly infrastructure on the vendor site (just a file
  associating customer and watermark, much simpler than controling every
  use of the book for DRM), no snooping of readers, and no intrusive
  constraints on the use of the book.</p>
  
  <p>Watermarking is actually used by some publishers such as <a href="https://www.oreilly.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">O’Reilly</a> (who
  can be expected to be proficient on digital matters), and
  some distributors such as <a href="https://bookfunnel.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">bookfunnel</a>.</p>
  
  <p>And there are also <a href="https://www.libreture.com/bookshops/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">publishers who do not use any form of
  copyright protection</a>, such as Tor, Wildsidepress, Smashwords, Phoenix
  Pick.</p>
  
  <p>AFAIK, there is no objective public evaluation of the effect of DRM or
  Watermarks on ebooks sales, and my owletionn experience is that decision
  making on DRM is largely ideological.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-01-26T18:55:45.597Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-01-26T18:55:45.597Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: babou
Body: <p>What are <strong>risks and disadvantages</strong> of publishing DRM-protected books for an author?</p>
  
  <p>Clearly some authors think that there are disadvantages of using DRM since they publish books without (e.g. Eric Flint).</p>
  
  <p><em>Please note that I'm looking for hard data, not opinions</em>. </p>
  
  <p>"DRM reduces sales" is an opinion. "Switching from DRM to non-DRM raised sales by 30% for author XYZ" is a fact. </p>
  
  <p>"People prefer to buy non-DRM books" is an opinion. "Sell-through, or buys-per-click from publishers with DRM for the same book is 20% less" is a fact. "A survey of XYZ large sample of users confirmed that 50% won't buy DRM-protected books" is a fact.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-29T14:06:17.420Z
Comments.Text: Side note: This is limited to authors, NOT publishers. If you have relevant advantages that pertain to entire publisher and not to individual author, please buzz me in comments and I will create publisher-centric question as well.
Comments.UserDisplayName: DVK
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-29T14:08:46.387Z
Comments.Text: Related: http://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/457/what-are-advantages-of-publishing-drm-protected-books-for-an-author
Comments.UserDisplayName: DVK
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-29T14:12:01.507Z
Comments.Text: Shouldn't these two questions be merged?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Sekhemty
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-29T14:45:31.337Z
Comments.Text: @Sekhemty - not really. The answers would be entirely distinct.
Comments.UserDisplayName: DVK
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-30T11:48:48.533Z
Comments.Text: Vote to leave open, clearly asking for non-opinion based answers.
Comments.UserDisplayName: James Jenkins
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-30T18:13:36.317Z
Comments.Text: I am sure there is a way to ask these 2 questions as one that would be more acceptable than the way this question was asked.  These question (aside from basically being opinion based) Are asking for lists.  That does not work well on SE.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Chad
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-30T20:42:38.987Z
Comments.Text: @DVK - Authors write - publishers publish - An author does not publish an ebook using DRM their Publisher does.  If you want to refine the question to be self published authors then it would be a better question.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Chad
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-30T20:53:46.113Z
Comments.Text: @Chad - An author has a choice of being published by a publisher with **mandatory** DRM or one without (including himself).
Comments.UserDisplayName: DVK
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-30T21:24:52.527Z
Comments.Text: This is a bad question for the SE then,
Comments.UserDisplayName: Chad
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-30T22:03:45.297Z
Comments.Text: Vote to leave open.
Comments.UserDisplayName: K7AAY
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-31T08:54:24.257Z
Comments.Text: Similar question on Writers.SE: http://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/3458/what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-digital-rights-management-for-self
Comments.UserDisplayName: palacsint
Tags: <drm>
Title: What are risks and disadvantages of publishing DRM-protected books for an author?
UserDisplayName: DVK
ThreadText: # What are risks and disadvantages of publishing DRM-protected books for an author?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-29)
  
  What are **risks and disadvantages** of publishing DRM-protected books for an author?
  
  Clearly some authors think that there are disadvantages of using DRM since they publish books without (e.g. Eric Flint).
  
  *Please note that I'm looking for hard data, not opinions*.
  
  "DRM reduces sales" is an opinion. "Switching from DRM to non-DRM raised sales by 30% for author XYZ" is a fact.
  
  "People prefer to buy non-DRM books" is an opinion. "Sell-through, or buys-per-click from publishers with DRM for the same book is 20% less" is a fact. "A survey of XYZ large sample of users confirmed that 50% won't buy DRM-protected books" is a fact.
  
  **Tags:** drm
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Side note: This is limited to authors, NOT publishers. If you have relevant advantages that pertain to entire publisher and not to individual author, please buzz me in comments and I will create publisher-centric question as well.  
  > **username_0**: Related: http://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/457/what-are-advantages-of-publishing-drm-protected-books-for-an-author  
  > **username_1**: Shouldn't these two questions be merged?  
  > **username_0**: @username_1 - not really. The answers would be entirely distinct.  
  > **username_2**: Vote to leave open, clearly asking for non-opinion based answers.  
  > **username_3**: I am sure there is a way to ask these 2 questions as one that would be more acceptable than the way this question was asked.  These question (aside from basically being opinion based) Are asking for lists.  That does not work well on SE.  
  > **username_3**: @username_0 - Authors write - publishers publish - An author does not publish an ebook using DRM their Publisher does.  If you want to refine the question to be self published authors then it would be a better question.  
  > **username_0**: @username_3 - An author has a choice of being published by a publisher with **mandatory** DRM or one without (including himself).  
  > **username_3**: This is a bad question for the SE then,  
  > **username_4**: Vote to leave open.  
  > **username_5**: Similar question on Writers.SE: http://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/3458/what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-digital-rights-management-for-self  
  
  ---
  
  ## 3 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2013-12-30. Score: 2
  
  Self-published authors (who are going to be the only authors with the opportunity to decide on DRM vs DRM-free) will need a support mechanism for handling DRM-related problems. After all, any distraction from writing limits your income (see the famous clam sundae digression, p.25 in RA Heinlein's *The Cat Who Walked Through Walls* for an example.)
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2019-01-13. Score: 0
  
  DRM doesn't work so why bother with it. I've stopped putting DRM's on my books. I've had no more or less piracy. So the benefit of DRM which is to protect your books. Well it doesn't so again why bother.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_7 on 2019-01-26. Score: 0
  
  **Briefly :** Watermarks do offer some protection with very limited risk or disadvantage.
  
  If you wish only facts, I can tell of my own experience.
  
  My first point is that, for many reasons including some that I will
  not elaborate because you might consider them opinions, I just do not
  buy books with DRM. I have more DRM-free good book than time to read
  them. I know other people who do the same.
  
  One reason that it is definitely a fact is that DRM are often a way
  for the vendor to keep control over the book, and, for example, it may
  allow him to erase the book from my library at any time. See for
  example the infamous [1994 book deletion by Amazon](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html). Less
  conspicuously, it may allow the vendor to spy on my reading
  activity
  
  This control may also imply that accessibility to my own books may be
  contingent on the vendor staying in business, and there is no knowing
  at this time how the ebook market will evolve.
  
  Snooping on customers and profiling them is a major (marketable)
  resource for large corporations such as Amazon and other big
  publishers/retailers. This may motivate DRM, beyond authors
  protection (see further remarks on author protection), since DRM forces
  the user to regularly connect his reading device. Howver it is of
  nearly no utility to authors. But the digital infrastructure needed to
  manage **indefinitely** the DRM for every copy sold is very costly for an
  author on his own, or for a small publisher (I discussed it with one
  small publisher / retailer) though it is much more manageable for larger
  commercial structures.
  
  The reason usually invoked for DRM is the protection of authors'
  copyrights. When I started using ebooks, I knew much about digital
  copyright (I have been working and even publishing about it), but very little
  of the actual ebook market for a private customer, for such things as
  prices (list prices and actual prices), available formats, types of
  DRM used, existing retailers, sales organization, etc.
  
  So I tried to see how I could get digital versions of books I already
  owned, so as to focus on the type of books I was interested in. I
  discovered that most of these books (mainly SFF classics) were either
  in the public domain or sold with DRM. But before I found that, I
  discovered very quickly several sites that were making them available
  for free. Not legally of course. The conclusion is that DRM do not
  afford really strong protection. They merely discourage people who
  will not try hard to break them.
  
  Now, a cheap way to get weak protection to discourage illegal copying
  is to use **watermarking**, i.e. information inserted in the book to
  identify the original buyer, so that he will hesitate to incriminate
  himself by duplicating the book for the benefit of others. This
  require no cosly infrastructure on the vendor site (just a file
  associating customer and watermark, much simpler than controling every
  use of the book for DRM), no snooping of readers, and no intrusive
  constraints on the use of the book.
  
  Watermarking is actually used by some publishers such as [O’Reilly](https://www.oreilly.com/) (who
  can be expected to be proficient on digital matters), and
  some distributors such as [bookfunnel](https://bookfunnel.com/).
  
  And there are also [publishers who do not use any form of
  copyright protection](https://www.libreture.com/bookshops/), such as Tor, Wildsidepress, Smashwords, Phoenix
  Pick.
  
  AFAIK, there is no objective public evaluation of the effect of DRM or
  Watermarks on ebooks sales, and my owletionn experience is that decision
  making on DRM is largely ideological.
  
  
  ---
  
  