Random House and other leading book publishers have announced that they are dropping DRM for their audiobook sales. Random House experimented with DRM-free audiobooks in the fall on eMusic and could not find a single instance where a DRM-free book later appeared on a P2P system.
Publishers Dropping DRM for Audiobooks
2 Comments
Recent Posts
When the Drumbeat of Intolerance Becomes Too Loud to Ignore: Reflections on Campus Antisemitism, Academic Freedom and My Global Technology Law Exchange Course 
Solomon’s Choice: Charting the Future of AI Policy in Canada 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 232: What Will Canadian Digital Policy Look Like Under the New Liberal Carney Government? 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 231: Sara Bannerman on How Canadian Political Parties Maximize Voter Data Collection and Minimize Privacy Safeguards 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 230: Aengus Bridgman on the 2025 Federal Election, Social Media Platforms, and Misinformation
That’s good news. It’s understandable that the publishers had been whipped into a panic by the music industry, but to see them looking into the facts for themselves and drawing a conclusion that supports their customers better is really heartening.
I’ll admit to being moderately surprised by the specific finding that they couldn’t find any watermarked mp3s, the broader finding (that removing DRM doesn’t change piracy levels) fits right in with what I’d expect. How hard is it to remove a watermark, anyways? Is it any more challenging/time-consuming than removing their drm?