Random House
Random House Ditches DRM
February 26, 2008
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by Aaron Hierholzer
Author Cory Doctorow has good reason to be wary of digital rights management. After switching from Mac to a Linux OS, he tells of the months-long task of laboriously converting his extensive DRM-controlled audiobook collection to the universal MP3 format. Ouch.
Digital rights management has long had its critics, who argue that piracy prevention efforts are more of a burden on honest consumers than on illegal sharers, who will find a way to "crack" the content—DRM or no DRM.
Random House has joined the many music labels who have decided to abandon what some characterize as draconian protection measures on content sold online in favor of—they hope—more sales. The publisher announced last week that it will now sell audiobooks on eMusic.com in MP3 format, which has no restrictions on where it is played. That means customers will be able to buy the product and listen to it however they like, whether that be on an iPod, Zune, burned CD, etc.
Compare that to Audible.com and iTunes, who refuse to sell non-DRM audiobooks, even if the author doesn't want such protection. (Random House will still use rights management for those publishers who feel it will prevent illegal distribution.) Amazon.com, new owner of Audible, has said it will stop encoding audiobooks if the public complains. So if you're for universal file formats, barrage them with annoying emails and phone calls!
In its refreshingly down-to-earth announcement (PDF link), Random House acknowledges piracy as a "fact of life," and shares the results of an experiment it conducted with eMusic that bolstered their decision to discontinue mandatory DRM. They watermarked MP3 versions of a variety of titles, sold them through eMusic, and hired a company to watch for them to show up on filesharing networks. Not one has yet appeared, according to Random House.
A big step has been taken by a publishing giant, opening the door for further changes in audiobook distribution—and many thinkers in the book industry are hoping this development will soon extend to e-books.
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HarperCollins and Focus Features Strike Deal to Turn Books into Movies
October 4, 2007
by Aaron Hierholzer
Bad news for those of you who lament theater marquees glutted with remakes, sequels, and cinematic versions of preexisting media: On October 19th, the partnership announced nearly two years ago between Random House and Focus Features will come to fruition with the release of Reservation Road. Based on the novel by John Burnham Schwartz, Random House is assuredly hoping the film will be an auspicious beginning to a new model that–if successful–guarantees large-scale book sales. Not to be left out, HarperCollins announced a deal of its own this week; the publisher will enter into a similar "strategic partnership" with Sharp Independent, giving the New York studio access to material in HarperCollins' heavyweight-laden roster.
From a marketing standpoint: genius.
A trade paperback edition of Reservation Road will coincide with the film's release date later this month, and a mass market paperback is also newly available. There’s no question that the increased visibility afforded to Schwartz’s work by the big screen will help move books. And for better or worse, the Hollywood touch appeals to many browsers who want Cusack on their High Fidelity, Witherspoon on their Vanity Fair. Although the trade paperback of Reservation Road is mercifully restrained, the mass market paperback’s cover gives the lead actors from the film that big-dramatic-face treatment employed by so many DVD covers.
One of the obstacles to the arrangement is that an experienced literary agent often holds film rights and sells them off separately, which may exclude some of Random House’s backlist, according to Stephen Zeitchik of Variety. There is also the issue of creative control: In the deal struck between Focus and Random House, the two entities would collaborate on the film from start to finish, jointly obtaining rights, overseeing production, selecting the director, and handling marketing and publicity, which may render the movies Random House Films produces an over-cooked broth. And where does the author fit in to all this? "[I]f writers are selling their work to be made into a film, they must be willing to relinquish artistic control of every aspect of their work," said Julian Friedman of Blake Friedman Literary and Script agents in a talk at the London Book Fair last year.
There’s also no way to tell how the agreement will affect acquisition of new titles by Random House—will a new component of manuscript evaluation be megaplex viability? Will the very personal act of writing a novel be compromised by the ultracollaborative movie-making process? Fortunately, Random House exercised good taste in choosing a partner for this venture; Focus Features has an impressive literary track record that includes film versions of The Pianist, The Constant Gardener, and Brokeback Mountain. Here’s hoping for continued output of creative, thoughtful adaptations. If handled well, this situation could provide helpful business symbiosis for both industries as well as quality artistic output.
As Variety's Stephen Zeitchik also points out, books and film have long coexisted within the same conglomerate, but never before have in-house deals of this scope been struck. And if you'll excuse a dated buzzword, the synergy doesn’t end with movies of Random House books; the publisher would also get dibs on novelizations of original screenplays.
Upcoming projects from Random House Films include Dean Koontz's The Husband, Yasmina Khadra's The Attack, and Bob Drogin's Curveball.
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