The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling…

What does digital rights management (DRM) mean? Well, basically DRM is copyright protection. It’s the way that publishers are formatting digital content so that it can’t be copied and distributed without their blessing. DRM is devoted to managing the copyright, distribution and how a consumer interacts with media.  HowStuffWorks puts it this way:

“A digital rights management scheme operates on three levels: establishing a copyright for a piece of content, managing the distribution of that copyrighted content and controlling what a consumer can do with that content once it has been distributed. To accomplish this level of control, a DRM program has to effectively define and describe three entities — the user, the content and the usage rights — and the relationship between them.” (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/drm2.htm)

So why is my sky falling?  Remember when Google began digitizing a lot of books in order to make the content available to online searchers?  Remember the outcry and lawsuits?  What they ended up doing was putting a bunch of books that are in the public domain online, but most books still controlled by publishers will never be searchable by Google.

So, the playing field is shifting.  Now authors are thinking about things… First, I want my book to be sold in eBook format for a myriad of reasons.  Second, eBook formats are ‘protected’ by DRM software.  Since most of the eBook reader manufacturers are not willing to allow for an industry standard, this means a book you buy from Amazon has a different format from one that you buy from Sony online.  I have whined about this before.  I’m still waiting for the publishing industry to standardize the format before I buy an eBook reader.  I don’t want to buy one and then leave it next to my 8 track tape player, my BetaMax and my HD DVD machine.  But I digress.

So imagine my chagrin when I learn that Harlequin announced a new division called Carina Press.  They staffed it with lively, lovely smart woman and turned them loose on the eBook industry.  Their first decision: no advances to their authors, and no DRM.  What?  Is that the stratosphere crashing down on my noggin?  Harlequin, the grand dame of all romance publishers, is abandoning the enforcement of digital copyrights?  I can hardly wrap my brain around this.  I’m still trying to figure out what it means.

It means that the eBooks they distribute will be portable, like regular paperback books.

It means that when you buy an eBook from Carina Press, you’ll be able to move it from your laptop, to your tower in the office, and from there to your handheld device if you so wish.

It means that the publisher is not trying to force some kind of format on a vast majority of disparate hardware and software.

In this case, Harlequin is abdicating from that fray.  Or it appears to be.  It’s launching Carina Press on its own.  That means that they will be buying new content with new contracts.  They can choose whether or not to look at any of the backlist at their discretion.  My bet is that they just move forward with new material and ignore all that has gone before.

But what does that mean for us?  Authors and aspiring writers?  Well, I think it’s all good news.  We’ve seen that the eBook consumers are not willing to pay hardback/paperback prices for an electronic version.  There are many conjectures about this, but from a marketing standpoint, it’s pretty clear.  The average consumer expects to be able to get the eBook on the date the new book is released, and expects the electronic version to be cheap since there is very little that goes into it incremental-cost-wise.

By opting out of the huge battles required to enforce copyright infringement, Harlequin is saving themselves a boatload of money up front.  It releases them from having to aggressively pursue and prosecute infringement issues–if a company does not show that they are trying to stop the copyright infringement, the courts don’t look too kindly upon the cases brought up before them.  Imagine not caring.  Not worrying about it.  Imagine charging for the download and then letting go.  Trusting the consumer to read it and be done with it.

I’m trying to think of a good parallel example.  Here’s one that comes close: you know how every time a movie is released on DVD, someone tells you they saw it a week before online?  That’s because some viewer in China (or fill in the country name here, not the US) hacked the DRM and pirated the movie.  Then they posted it online.  Now the movie company lawyers have to try and hunt down this person in Indonesia (or fill in the country name here, not the US) and shut down the operation.  If they don’t show diligence in trying to enforce their copyrights, then the courts don’t support their claims.  You know how expensive it would be to find the joker who hacked the DRM and pirated your music, DVD or eBook?  It boggles the mind.  It’s a big globe.  Full of smart people and hackers who will try to get past security measures just to prove that they can.

And instead of staying a part of that uphill battle, Carina Press is going to launch an eBook like a dove from their hands… throw it up and say, ‘fly away little file’ and kiss it goodbye.  No worries about hackers.  No lawsuits to pursue.  No international lawyers fees to pay.

What is the upside to my cumulonibus cascade?  Is there a positive to this??  Besides the fact that the publisher won’t be incurring a huge cost?  Yes, I truly think there is a silver lining to this cloud.  If there is no attempt to enable and enforce DRM, then the eBook landscape might just get standardized.  There might be players that can read multiple formats.  I might be able to buy an eBook from Sony that would play on my Kindle.  Or at least, I could buy a book from Carina Press that would play on anything…

I have to thank the gals at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books for talking about the announcement.  All ready the “sky is falling” comments are starting.  Will RWI not recognize Carina Press since they don’t pay advances?  What will happen to our world?  How will this affect romance publishing?  Frankly, I think it’s going to be a good thing.  But only time will tell.

–Sandee Wagner