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Stupid DRM, abusive EULAs, hopeless ecommerce: why I’m not even going to try to sell my short story collection audiobook downloads

In my latest Publishers Weekly column, I explain why I'm not even going to try to sell downloads of the audiobook of the my forthcoming experimental short story collection, With a Little Help: Apple won't carry it without DRM; Audible won't carry it without an abusive EULA; and all the major digital delivery systems are crufty and needlessly complicated.

For my next book, Makers, we tried again. This time Audible agreed to carry the title without DRM. Hooray! Except now there was a new problem: Apple refused to allow DRM-free audiobooks in the Apple Store—yes, the same Apple that claims to hate DRM. Okay, we thought, we'll just sell direct through Audible, at least it's a relatively painless download process, right? Not quite. It turns out that buying an audiobook from Audible requires a long end-user license agreement (EULA) that bars users from moving their Audible books to any unauthorized device or converting them to other formats. Instead of DRM, they accomplish the lock-in with a contract.

I came up with what I thought was an elegant solution: a benediction to the audio file: “Random House Audio and Cory Doctorow, the copyright holders to this recording, grant you permission to use this book in any way consistent with your nation's copyright laws.” This is a good EULA, I thought, as it stands up for every word of copyright law. Random House was game, too. Audible wasn't. So we decided not to sell through Audible, which I was intensely bummed about, because I really like Audible. They have great selection, good prices, and they're kicking ass with audiobooks.

23 Responses to “Stupid DRM, abusive EULAs, hopeless ecommerce: why I’m not even going to try to sell my short story collection audiobook downloads”

1. Zacqary Adam Green says:

   December 10, 2009 at 11:15 am

   You mean this article here?

   I had to Google it because there was no link. D:
2. Rick York says:

   December 10, 2009 at 2:33 pm

   So, is the audio version available? If so, is it available now and, can I download it? I have read it in a library copy. I am thinking of getting my own copy to pass it around. Obviously, I liked it.
3. Emlyn says:

   December 11, 2009 at 3:53 am

   Why not just sell it through your website, or do a "here it is free, in all senses, donate if you want to". Why are you worried about conforming to some commercial gatekeeper or another (besides your publisher)?
4. Cory Doctorow says:

   December 11, 2009 at 7:05 am

   It certainly is, Rick! You can buy it through BN.com, Borders.com and several others. It's just a clunky purchase process. I'm working with Random House to set up a direct sales channel from here and Boing Boing, though.
5. Ollie says:

   December 11, 2009 at 6:11 pm

   Here is a little feedback, as if you really needed any more.

   I've tried to buy this from both of your current retailers (BN.com and Borders.com) with little success. BN insists that it can only be sold to customers with a U.S. address and since I live in the UK that excludes me.

   Borders have this scary sounding software called OverDrive: "This title can be transferred to most MP3 players via OverDrive Media Console for Windows and to most Apple® devices using OverDrive Media Console for Mac."
   I don't think that this is the best solution for me. OverDrive sounds like it probably restricts how I can use the MP3 which I don't want - especially since I can copy any MP3 to ANY MP3 player using the default file manager of any modern Operating System (mine is Ubuntu). I didn't look to see if Borders will also refuse to sell Makers to me because I don't live in the U.S.

   I look forward to hearing of a European retailer in time. Of course I might just have to buy the dead tree edition, but I was trying to avoid that.
6. Apple Says Audiobooks Must Have DRM | We R Pirates says:

   December 12, 2009 at 3:00 pm

   [...] when he wanted to release an audio version of his new book ‘Makers’ without DRM, it seemed a fairly [...]
7. Apple Says Audiobooks Must Have DRM « My blog at Servage :) says:

   December 12, 2009 at 3:01 pm

   [...] when he wanted to release an audio version of his new book ‘Makers’ without DRM, it seemed a fairly [...]
8. Apple Says Audiobooks Must Have DRM - P2P Talk? says:

   December 12, 2009 at 3:41 pm

   [...] when he wanted to release an audio version of his new book ‘Makers’ without DRM, it seemed a fairly [...]
9. Michael says:

   December 12, 2009 at 8:39 pm

   Have you considered bittorrent as a distribution channel?
10. Apple Says Audiobooks Must Have DRM – FUCK THE RIAA says:

    December 13, 2009 at 7:24 am

    [...] when he wanted to release an audio version of his new book ‘Makers’ without DRM, it seemed a fairly [...]
11. Apple Says Audiobooks Must Have DRM - News from the technology world - Technology News says:

    December 13, 2009 at 9:57 am

    [...] when he wanted to release an audio version of his new book ‘Makers’ without DRM, it seemed a fairly [...]
12. Öppen hårdvara 2009 « Emil Isberg says:

    December 13, 2009 at 11:49 am

    [...] läser just nu en bok av Cory Doctorow som heter Makers som handlar om just hårdvarutillverkare som aktivt utvecklar öppen hårdvara som [...]
13. Mike says:

    December 13, 2009 at 4:43 pm

    Cory, should you ever decide you just want to give away the audiobook version, there's always podiobooks.com, which carries a wide selection of free audiobooks (chapters are in MP3 format with no DRM!). I think they let you ask for donations, too.
14. Ollie says:

    December 14, 2009 at 3:36 am

    @ Michael & Mike

    Cory & Random House shouldn't *have* to give the audiobook away for free. I want to see authors and publishers being able to sell products in whatever DRM free medium they want to. Just because it is currently hard for Cory to find a way to publish the drm-free mp3s I don't want him to give up trying.

    I want to be able to buy drm-free audiobooks in the future, not just this one - and most publishers publish audiobooks with drm because that is the only real option.
15. Darwin says:

    December 14, 2009 at 3:49 pm

    Apple has never wanted DRM from the beginning and was always very vocal about that. The only reason there is no DRM on many iTunes selections now is because Apple kept pushing the issue. Audible wants the DRM not Apple which you misrepresent in this article. Whats the big deal anyway...there are plenty of ways to sell you audiobooks. If you don't like Audibles DRM then don't sell through them and quit whining about it. Do you think everyone who sells audiobooks should suit your personal preferences? Apparently you do...
16. Cory Doctorow says:

    December 14, 2009 at 9:58 pm

    What a rich fantasy life you live, Darwin.

    Audible agreed to drop the DRM.

    Apple refused to carry the audiobook without it.

    Apple won't carry anyone's audiobooks except Audible (they have sold them the exclusive audiobook franchise for iTunes).

    Apple and Audible control 90% of the audiobook market.

    Yes, Apple has been "very vocal" about not wanting DRM. However, their actions speak much louder than their words.

    "Do you think everyone who sells audiobooks should suit your personal preferences?"

    Should audiobook retailers listen to major audiobook publishers (Random House Audio, largest publisher in the world) and their best-selling authors when it comes to crippling their copyrighted works with unethical DRM? Why yes, in fact I *do* believe that they have an obligation to listen to us.
17. Ed H. says:

    December 14, 2009 at 11:24 pm

    Cory, I wonder if Apple maybe has an agreement with Audible to not allow non-DRMed? Have you asked that way? Maybe see if you can have Audible instruct Apple to not use DRM...
18. Cory Doctorow says:

    December 15, 2009 at 12:00 pm

    You need to re-read the article, Ed.

    Audible agreed to remove the DRM.

    Apple said without DRM, they wouldn't carry the book.
19. Apple Says Audiobooks Must Have DRM says:

    December 18, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    [...] when he wanted to release an audio version of his new book ‘Makers’ without DRM, it seemed a fairly simple [...]
20. crunk mcdunk says:

    January 6, 2010 at 7:05 am

    That is a kickass illustration btw, who's is it?
21. crunk mcdunk says:

    January 7, 2010 at 12:27 am

    Hi!
    Can I ask who's done the illustration for the cover?
22. Apple Says Audiobooks Must Have DRM | TorrentFreak says:

    February 8, 2011 at 3:49 am

    [...] when he wanted to release an audio version of his new book ‘Makers’ without DRM, it seemed a fairly [...]
23. Cookie Abuse: Absurd Expiration Dates & How to Fix This says:

    March 22, 2011 at 10:52 am

    [...] that makes so many of us just click on the “I Agree” button when faced with these labyrinthine EULAs & suchlike. This is short-term thinking. And it is [...]

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