The Digital Distributor Monopoly May Be Over

DC Comics recently became available on the new iVerse ComicsPLUS app. This is an important marker of how ComiXology, now owned by Amazon, may no longer be the de facto monopoly digital distributor. It’s content that drives customers, and with one of the best-known American companies no longer exclusive, things may change even more in future.

The new app also offers “graphic novel rental for one, two, or five days at prices lower than purchase, and the ability to import DRM-free prdoucts in ePub, PDF, CBR, and CBZ formats.” The rentals currently include publications from IDW, Archie, and Valiant.

Heidi reports that “Amazon recently started sending out renewal contracts to various publishers, and the terms are not as favorable as Comixology’s were — they are more like Amazon’s.” Which would explain why companies would be looking to change: cost and control.