NetGalley adds Social DRM reading option
to facilitate “read anywhere” access to galleys
Contact: Susan Ruszala, President, NetGalley, at susan.ruszala@netgalley.com
11 December 2015—As publishers begin to explore alternatives to traditional digital rights management (DRM), NetGalley today announced the addition of a “Social DRM” reading option, which when enabled by publishers, will allow members to access digital galley content on any device or app that reads ePub or PDF files.
“It’s always been important to NetGalley that we offer readers of influence as many ways to access content as possible, while also preserving the publishers’ legitimate right to protect their content,” said Susan Ruszala, President of NetGalley. “We are pleased to support the emergence of Social DRM as an additional reading option for publishers to enable if they choose.”
With Social DRM, member information is publicly and privately embedded within the file, so that illegal sharing can be tracked if needed. Readers can read on any platform that supports ePub or PDF files, and move content between devices. The cost of Social DRM downloads will be included in the NetGalley subscription price, and publishers & authors will continue to have full control over security and reading options across their account or title-by-title.
As with other reading options offered by NetGalley, any legal actions resulting from illegal sharing, such as takedown notices, will continue to be the responsibility of the publisher or author.
The backbone of the system will be provided by Firebrand, NetGalley’s parent company, through its Cloud Services group. Doug Lessing, President of Firebrand, commented, “Internationally, we’re seeing a growing trend away from traditional DRM. Our goal was to support this emerging market through NetGalley as well as our direct-to-consumer projects.”
About NetGalley (www.netgalley.com)
NetGalley is part of Firebrand Technologies (www.firebrandtech.com), which provides leading software and services to help publishers achieve success. NetGalley delivers secure, digital galleys to professional readers on behalf of over 300 publishers and hundreds of authors, to help promote and market new books.