Comments on: PR: What Not to Do: Copy Protection Problems

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 01:40:14 +0000

Then it’s a case of different memories, because I thought they did a fine job of cleaning up the way someone else thoughtlessly put them in a troublesome situation.

By: Alan David Doane

Alan David Doane — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 16:07:25 +0000

Johanna,

You’re right about the Elk’s Run thing, but I do have to say the spectacular way they mismanaged the aftermath did turn me off the book completely.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 20:12:46 +0000

No, Alan, the Elk’s Run folks didn’t do that. An independent source who thought they’d “help” did that on their behalf, which they then had to clean up from.

Christopher, I’m with you — if the book’s that good, I’m going to get a print copy anyway.

By: Christopher Allen

Christopher Allen — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:25:48 +0000

I tend to agree with Johanna on this, that those who go to the trouble of protecting their pdfs don’t have much worth protecting, anyway. And it really feels like an insult, or like you say, ill-considered, to do this and give the impression that potential reviewers are not to be trusted. I can’t think of a single case where I read a pdf version of a book, liked it, and decided the pdf was good enough and I didn’t need a paper copy. I HATE reading pdfs, really, especially of graphic novels, as it slows the reading process down and makes the book have to be that much better to compensate for the inconvenience.

By: ADD

ADD — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:13:42 +0000

I got this same series of e-mails, and while I asked for and was told a preview copy was mailed out, the tone and implications of the e-mails definitely turned me off. The Elk’s Run gang pulled a very similar stunt just prior to their debut. Haven’t seen or read an issue of that before, and certainly not since.

By: Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 12:23:48 +0000

If they’re really concerned with comics piracy, then a B&W proof of the book printed on colored paper (as to hamper photocopying or scanning) would be the best option. I understand printing and postage costs some money, but in the end it would solve their piracy issue.

And yes, asking for a mailed copy does in some ways act as a filter for less business-minded publishers. In the standard book review world, it’s a standard.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 02:15:46 +0000

Well, yeah, but that would cost them money!

Which may be why I’m seeing people recently saying “I don’t read comics online, if you want me to see something, mail it to me.” It’s a level of filtering to see who’s really serious.

By: Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 23:29:58 +0000

The first email explaining why they don’t have a PDF seems inane. Why not just wait until they have their ducks in a row before soliciting it to the press?

And the idea of using big Xs to mar the PDF to avoid it from being re-distributed is a bit much. The online review copies I’ve got that have been the most practical have been passworded PDFs with a watermark. For color comics, they’re usually sans colors.

If they’e going to so much trouble in making thier digital review copies uncirculatable, it might be less hassle for them to print it out on colored paper and mail it to reviewers.