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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greg at Home" data-source="post: 1593188" data-attributes="member: 20291">First, thanks for this. I really appreciate your thoughtful and respectful approach, as well as the opportunity to address multiple concerns in one place. Over the last few days, I've often chosen not to respond to some legitimate concerns simply because I felt I couldn't possibly keep up. This post is ridiculously long, so thanks in advance to anyone who slogs through it.I am not a lawyer. What follows is my interpretation of the relevant statutes and what their implications are. I've done a bit of research on the topic and feel that I am reasonably informed, but I'm not an expert and I could be wrong. This is especially true since one thing I am sure of is that the matter is decidedly unsettled. I also understand that this is a very heated issue that many people feel passionately about, and I hope that my personal position will not be seen as an attack on anyone's principles or values, even if they differ from mine. I respect that others have different views on these issues and can only hope that I am extended the same courtesy.That said, here's my take. The First Sale doctrine, essentially, allows you to do what you want with the copy of a work you have purchased. It does not entitle you to copy or otherwise reproduce the copy you purchased, and it never has. Quite the contrary, the right of reproduction is one of the core rights--really the core right--that copyright law is meant to protect. The copyright holder may specifically grant you limited or unlimited rights to do so, but any such grant occurs outside the bounds of First Sale doctrine. For example, the publisher of a printed book may grant you permission to photocopy a character sheet, map, player handouts, or some other portion of the work. Likewise, a vendor at DTRPG may grant you permission to copy the work to other devices you own.So, First Sale doctrine does not entitle you to make a copy or otherwise reproduce the copy of a work you have purchased. If you download an eBook from DTRPG to your hard drive, First Sale does not entitle you to copy that file to a CD, attach it to an email, upload it to a network, or print out a hardcopy reproduction, whether or not you subsequently delete or destroy the original, purchased copy. First Sale would entitle you to give away or sell your hard drive, which includes the purchased copy of the eBook.Now, DTRPG and its vendors are extending you much broader rights than are provided by the First Sale doctrine. They are extending you the right to copy the eBook on other devices that you own (in whole or in part), and they are extending you the right to print the book in hardcopy form. I'm not construing this as any sort of altruism, BTW: These features are among those that give electronic media its value and utility. As the law currently stands, however, these rights are not mandated by First Sale--they are additional rights extended by the publisher/vendor (or, more precisely, sold by the publisher/vendor).The value or utility of DRM to the publisher, while not an issue you specifically addressed, has also been the subject of much controversey here and elsewhere. I may as well take the opportunity to comment on that as well.The question is, since pirates can circumvent DRM anyway, what does it actually accomplish other than inconveniencing some of our honest customers? For me, Adobe's DRM provides three main features: security, communication, and potential.Security: This one is pretty limited. Most of our books have been pirated and are available on the Internet for free. Electronic versions are just going to make things easier for these hardcore pirates, and they're going to make the pirated copies of our work of higher quality. I can't possibly express how much it hurts to have one's work stolen--and not even by hardened criminals, but just by ordinary gamers who simply don't give a damn or, I guess, just enjoy the thrill of stealing. The fact is, though, there's virtually nothing we can do to stop this kind of theft. DRM certainly isn't going to do it--that's been pretty well documented.DRM might, however, limit a more subtle and less malicious sort of "casual theft." This, for example, is the guy who downloads one of our eBooks and then makes copies for his friends or players. Maybe he's the DM. He downloads Midnight, and before he starts his campaign, he burns copies of all the rules chapters for his players. It's great, he figures, because now all the players can have their own copies of the rules without being tempted to read the juicy setting stuff. He may even forbid his players to buy a copy of the book, for fear that they might read something they're not supposed to. (BTW, would you guys be interested in "player's version" eBooks of things like Midnight, Dawnforge, and the Horizon minigames?) *This* guy might be less likely to commit this sort of piracy with DRM in place. And in my experience, this kind of piracy happens a lot--I know, because I've been offered just these sorts of CDs from my DMs.Communication: This goes hand-in-hand with the previous point. DRM makes it very clear what rights the publisher of an eBook is selling and what rights the publisher is reserving. Sure, the customer can go ahead and crack the DRM if he wants to, but it will be pretty obvious when he's doing something the publisher didn't authorize him to do. This kind of integrated, clear definition of rights is extremely valuable to me for a number of reasons. For one, it should eliminate most unintentional piracy--some folks don't know a whole lot about copyright law and shouldn't be expected to learn it. At best, DRM can be a sort of integrated copyright tutorial that tells the customer exactly what he can and can't legally do with the copy of the work he purchased. Further, the more clearly I can define the rights I'm selling to my work and the rights I'm reserving (within the bounds of the law, of course), the more likely I am to be able to successfully defend those rights should the need, or opportunity, ever arise.Potential: Adobe's DRM is far from foolproof. It's not 100% versatile and user-friendly. But it's better than other attempts that have been made in the past. I like Adobe. I'm an Adobe fanboy. I consider many of their products to be among the highest-quality, most useful software applications I have ever owned. So I trust their ability to do good work, to continue to innovate, to continue to improve their products. I believe that publishers need technological solutions to these issues we're discussing if electronic publishing is ever to reach its full potential, and I'm confident in Adobe's ability to provide those solutions. But I also recognize that the problems themselves often present a moving target, so I expect the solutions to be ongoing and never 100% perfect. I also want these solutions to be as user-friendly and non-intrusive as possible for my customers, and I trust Adobe to improve its product on that front as well. Some of this progress will require improvements in the technology, but some can be made through customer service. DTRPG, with help from Adobe, is already working on some possible solutions that may address some of the concerns about functionality that have been raised here.Now, having said all that, I also understand if some of our potential customers are unwilling to purchase our eBooks. There are plenty of valid reasons, whether philosophical or practical, not to buy DRM-protected eBooks. I respect that and can only hope that the situation changes in the future.That is, at least, the case for FFG. Even so, we'd like to price our eBooks at a more competitive price--obviously, we'd like to produce as much revenue from this venture as possible. However, many of our retailers and distributors are extremely concerned (and every bit as passionate as many here) about direct-to-consumer competition from publishers. These folks are extremely important to us. Consider: The vast majority of FFG's revenues do not even derive from RPG products, let alone eBook versions of those products. It would be the height of insanity for us, as a company, to jeopardize even one relationship with a retailer or distributor over the pricing of RPG eBooks. We may all believe that eBooks and print products don't compete with each other, but frankly, it isn't our perception that matters here. It's theirs, and we're going to respect that. If that means we sell fewer eBooks than we otherwise would, that's unfortunate for both the company and the customers we might otherwise have gained, but we'll have to live with it. For now.Thanks much,GregFFG</blockquote>

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