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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 25, 2014 2:29:25 GMT -5
Just noticed this today... Comixology now offering DRM-free backups of selected books, in both PDF and CBZ formats: www.comixology.com/drm-free-backupRight now it looks like it's limited to Image, Thrillbent, and Monkeybrain -- no Marvel or DC -- so it's less of a game-changer than it looks like. I believe Image was already offering DRM-downloads anyway. Still, I think it's a step in the right direction and one less criticism to be leveled against digital comics if this gains traction with other publishers. I'm pleased at the direction as well, since I use CBZ files a lot with ComicRack. I've been downloading all my purchases that are available on Comixology...which are all Image books. For the life of me I can't understand Marvel and DC's reticence. Don't the idiots that that work for those company's realize that anyone can illegally download anything they want already? Offering a legal alternative isn't going to increase the number of illegal downloads. If anything, it'll swing a lot of those "on the fence" with their ethics and convince them to start actually paying for all those new comics. It's so odd how the two biggest publishers seem to be so much less savvy, as compared to Image, when it comes to the actual comics and what the fans value and want. |
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Post by hondobrode on Jul 25, 2014 11:55:17 GMT -5
I think DC & Marvel feel they have nothing to gain by being DRM-free, and that whoever wants their product is going to pay for it and accept the terms, outside of a few grungy freeloaders.
I too am glad that Comixology is doing this and think it's only a matter of time before others jump on the bandwagon.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 25, 2014 15:13:04 GMT -5
So you think Marvel and DC actually feel that they have nothing to gain? I wouldn't doubt it. My gut tells me that this is simply a symptom of being owned by two over-controlling corporate entities who don't really understand what's going on on a grass roots level.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 15:59:34 GMT -5
They've stomped their feet at digital for a while, but seem to be embracing it somewhat with their own monthly service. They'll come around. A lot of companies are hesitant about DRM free copies. Even though someone could just download the legal 99 cent copy protected comic and screencap every page and create their own DRM free file to share. If people are going to share they're going to share. I think making sure the legal download option is there for people who would rather not illegally download is the best prevention to piracy.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 20:00:16 GMT -5
The tide may have started to turn on some books in digital form. Apparently, Ms. Marvel #1, which has just gone to its 6th printing in print form from Marvel, has sold more digital copies than print. BC scuttlebuttThis is one of those books that was a media darling and attracting a larger female audience than traditional male comic book audience. The other interesting bit is that the bulk of titles sell 10-20% of their print sales in digital form, which is up from the last estimates I saw which was the best sellers hit 10% of their print sales. So it does look like digital is growing...slowly, but still growing and certain books are thriving in that format. For reference according to Comichron, sales of Ms. Marvel #1 in Feb 2014 was 50,286-which was the initial orders on the first printing, it's had 5 more printings, and digital has surpassed all of those...and digital sales are confirmed end customer sales. -M |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jul 28, 2014 20:03:09 GMT -5
The tide may have started to turn on some books in digital form. Apparently, Ms. Marvel #1, which has just gone to its 6th printing in print form from Marvel, has sold more digital copies than print. BC scuttlebuttThis is one of those books that was a media darling and attracting a larger female audience than traditional male comic book audience. The other interesting bit is that the bulk of title sell 10-20% of their print sales in digital form, which is up from the last estimates I saw which was the best sellers hit 10% of their print sales. So it does look like digital is growing...slowly, but still growing and certain books are thriving in that format. For reference according to Comichron, sales of Ms. Marvel #1 in Feb 2014 was 50,286-which was the initial orders on the first printing, it's had 5 more printings, and digital has surpassed all of those...and digital sales are confirmed end customer sales. -M That's the first bit of hard sales for digital that I've ever seen, and I have to say that even as a mostly digital reader that I am surprised. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 28, 2014 20:13:52 GMT -5
I can't say I'm surprised.As sure as my socks will need to get washed, digital sales will grow and physical sales will shrink. Its happening in every form of entertainment
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 29, 2014 1:22:51 GMT -5
Digital: The first choice of anti-social comic book fans the world over! (Which includes myself, I'm afraid.)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 2:13:46 GMT -5
If DC were to offer a service like Marvel Unlimited I would go mainly digital and stick with it.
Speaking of Marvel Unlimited does anyone know if it runs well on Android yet?
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ironchimp
Full Member
Simian Overlord
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Post by ironchimp on Jul 29, 2014 7:26:15 GMT -5
At the same time digital has basically killed every other art form. Once they worked out how to compress music into digital files that spelled the slow death of recorded music as an actual viable job. There was a report here that novelists are experiencing the same phenomenon with royalties and sales slowly falling apart.
Will we see it with comics?
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 29, 2014 8:49:39 GMT -5
I can't say I'm surprised.As sure as my socks will need to get washed, digital sales will grow and physical sales will shrink. Its happening in every form of entertainment I call BS on that. Comixology lists how many people are pulling things, and Ms. Marvel isn't even on the list. Marvel's digital site does nothing but advertise movie properties.. no sign of it there.. if it was 'Hot' it'd be there. I'm sure Digital will continue to grow, but there's no way it's outstripping print sales on a mainstream Marvel comic. |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 29, 2014 8:49:51 GMT -5
This is just a situation of the industries having to catch up with the technology. They will have to rework royalty contracts to fully take into account digital sales on a universal scale. People still buy music online. I do it all the time. Sure, you'll never see a hype like Thriller ever again, but is that such a bad thing? Digital will never touch the "high arts" of painting, sculpture, etc. At least I can't see a way that it would. Besides, all people see are the mainstream types bitching that they can't make as much money as they use to by perpetually generating formulaic crap. The real artists that are operating outside the limelight are still creating great music. They always have and always will.
I still feel that if the industry plays its cards right, that digital can become the new spinner-rack. That said, they have to stop catering to the LCS's and speculators. We've been down that road many times, and quite frankly, it's time to cut the cord. The problem is that Marvel and DC are much more than comic company's nowadays, so it remains to be seen how big a priority comics are beyond "Meet this quota for the shareholders or else."
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 29, 2014 8:50:57 GMT -5
At the same time digital has basically killed every other art form. Once they worked out how to compress music into digital files that spelled the slow death of recorded music as an actual viable job. There was a report here that novelists are experiencing the same phenomenon with royalties and sales slowly falling apart. Will we see it with comics? It certainly killed the music industry, that's certain. Newspapers and Magazines, too. Jury's still out on books and comics, I'd say. |
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ironchimp
Full Member
Simian Overlord
Posts: 456
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Post by ironchimp on Jul 29, 2014 10:35:22 GMT -5
This is just a situation of the industries having to catch up with the technology. They will have to rework royalty contracts to fully take into account digital sales on a universal scale. People still buy music online. I do it all the time. Sure, you'll never see a hype like Thriller ever again, but is that such a bad thing? Digital will never touch the "high arts" of painting, sculpture, etc. At least I can't see a way that it would. Besides, all people see are the mainstream types bitching that they can't make as much money as they use to by perpetually generating formulaic crap. The real artists that are operating outside the limelight are still creating great music. They always have and always will. people are of course still making music but they are now paying for it out of their own pocket. a lot of labels are just vanity projects / labours of love now rather than actual commercial enterprises and a lot of bands are just giving their recordings to labels or streaming them for free. A lot of studios have also closed. for books this was a pretty interesting article www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/08/authors-incomes-collapse-alcs-survey |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 17:52:17 GMT -5
I think piracy is going to be a thing of the past one day. Copy protection is going to become something people aren't going to be able to bypass.
Either that or streaming will be the new standard, and musicians will be paid by streaming sites.
This past decade has been kind of the "wild west" of internet, when we're at the point where speeds are fast enough to stream and download large files but safeguards against copyright violation aren't up to the standard of technology. I have a feeling major money is being invested in a solution. They may not be onto the solution yet, but give it another decade and people will say "Remember when you could just download whatever you wanted for free?"
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