# WH Smith putting DRM in books distributed by Kobo



## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

I was happy to see my books in WH Smith's on-line website; but then very unhappy to see that they had installed DRM in my files without my permission. 
I hate DRM. I think it is a stupid thing that doesn't work and therefore serves no purpose other than to p*ss off readers and legitimate customers.

To Kobo; please ask W.H. Smith to stop altering my files, otherwise I'll have to pull my books - which I don't want to do - but I will NOT support the use of DRM in any way - least of all in my own content. Further, I do not believe that you or WH Smith have the right to alter my files without my permission.


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## OliviaF (Feb 3, 2013)

Oh wow. I didn't realize that. I just discovered my books listed there but didn't notice the added DRM.

I don't want DRM on my books nor did I give permission for that to be done :-/


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Wow. That's strange. I'll have to check out my own Kobo releases over at WH Smith.


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## 56139 (Jan 21, 2012)

The default stetting at KOBO is to INCLUDE DRM, so when you add your book, almost at the last step you will have an option.  If you don't uncheck the box, you have DRM enabled automatically.  

I have no idea if you can change this once it's set, but this is how you got DRM on your books.


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## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

Going through Draft2Digital so I'm not seeing any of that; thanks for the explanation - I'll take it up with them and see if it happening on their side of the fence (and if that is the case I'll be back to edit ).


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## Susan Kaye Quinn (Aug 8, 2011)

JanneCO said:


> The default stetting at KOBO is to INCLUDE DRM, so when you add your book, almost at the last step you will have an option. If you don't uncheck the box, you have DRM enabled automatically.
> 
> I have no idea if you can change this once it's set, but this is how you got DRM on your books.


Except that I KNOW I clicked "no DRM" when I uploaded. I suspect that if you make any changes - upload a new version, etc, it defaults back to DRM. Which is pretty tricky, because you can make updates on Kobo to one page (and not have to walk through all the menus for the other pages), but apparently it will default to DRM unless you uncheck it with every update.


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## Susan Kaye Quinn (Aug 8, 2011)

Also: even my books which still have "DRM free" enabled are showing up as DRM epub on WHSmith


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## 56139 (Jan 21, 2012)

Susan Kaye Quinn said:


> Except that I KNOW I clicked "no DRM" when I uploaded. I suspect that if you make any changes - upload a new version, etc, it defaults back to DRM. Which is pretty tricky, because you can make updates on Kobo to one page (and not have to walk through all the menus for the other pages), but apparently it will default to DRM unless you uncheck it with every update.


Yeah, that could be. I barely noticed it myself. I was ready to click submit and then I saw what that little checkbox was actually saying.


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## TJHudson (Jul 9, 2012)

I have just checked. All of my books have DRM. I published them directly with Kobo and I unchecked DRM. I can't have missed that option on every book I published, so it does look like DRM is being added against our wishes.


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Susan Kaye Quinn said:


> Except that I KNOW I clicked "no DRM" when I uploaded. I suspect that if you make any changes - upload a new version, etc, it defaults back to DRM. Which is pretty tricky, because you can make updates on Kobo to one page (and not have to walk through all the menus for the other pages), but apparently it will default to DRM unless you uncheck it with every update.


This. ANY time you make any change at all, including price, it defaults back to DRM, so you have to manually un-check the box for no DRM. The good news is that unlike Amazon and B&N, you can change it at any time. The bad news is that it always defaults to DRM.


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## TJHudson (Jul 9, 2012)

So I've just checked through the publishing options of my books and none of them have DRM ticked. 

At some point it is definitely being added against my wishes.


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

OK, that is seriously not cool if WH Smith is adding it against our wishes.


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## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

I just checked a bunch of books at WH SMith - they ALL have DRM enabled - yep.


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## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

After checking with Draft2Digital they confirmed that they specifically request no DRM - so this is something that is happening between KOBO and WH Smith without ANY author's permission. Apart from those who have said they didn't give permission - Hugh Howey and Cory Doctorow, both vocal opponents of DRM have it installed on their books at WH Smith. 

Could a Koko representative please comment on where this is happening? Is it on WH Smith? Or on Kobo side?


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

Oy. That's just awful.

Eveyrone going through KWL should contact customer support and complain. Unacceptable.


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## AriadneW (Feb 16, 2013)

Argh that seriously sucks. I didn't want DRM on my books either but there it is.


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

Mine too.


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## Carradee (Aug 21, 2010)

Kobo will oddly change your settings on your book, namely about DRM. I've noticed this—and complained about it—more than once.

It might well be Kobo and not WH Dean.


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## Leanne King (Oct 2, 2012)

Yep, mine all showing at Smiths as Adobe DRM, despite all being published through KWL with DRM unchecked (which I have just double checked).


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## Hildred (Sep 9, 2012)

That is odd. I just checked my books I recently made price changes to and they're all unchecked (as they should be.) For the record, I directly upload.


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## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

Hildred said:


> That is odd. I just checked my books I recently made price changes to and they're all unchecked (as they should be.) For the record, I directly upload.


Yes - all yours have DRM as well - basically, from what I can tell - EVERY book at WH Smith has DRM in it - installed without our permission via Kobo.

And we note that still no Kobo rep has put their head in here.


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## jnfr (Mar 26, 2011)

Someone should give Cory a heads up over at Boing-Boing. He won't be happy about this and he's got a big microphone.


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## Mathew Reuther (Jan 14, 2013)

Wow. This is not OK with me.

New addition to my copyright page:

"This file is intended to be distributed DRM-free. Some retailers have taken to violating our wishes and installing DRM on our products. If you have received a version where DRM has been enabled, please email a copy of your receipt to [email protected] and let us know which format you read in. We will send you a proper copy of the file in return. If this happens to you, please consider shopping at a retailer that does not manipulate original files in any way for future ebook purchases. Thank you for supporting our quest to provide you with only the best possible service."


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## Error404 (Sep 6, 2012)

I direct upload and have made multiple changes without having to re-uncheck the DRM option


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## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

MacWillard said:


> I direct upload and have made multiple changes without having to re-uncheck the DRM option


But your books also have DRM in them on the WH Smith ebook site....


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## Leanne King (Oct 2, 2012)

I'm no lawyer, but these terms may be pertinent:



> Without restricting the generality of the foregoing, Kobo may:
> 
> Accept or reject the Works at our discretion,
> Copy and store your Works on one or more computers,
> ...


I guess it could be argued that "convert, reformat, and encode" gives them the right to add DRM. It's not how I would read it, but I can see how it could be open to interpretation. I'm sending them an email anyway. They are usually pretty good about getting back to you, even if their replies rarely make sense.


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## Routhwick (Apr 1, 2012)

I've alerted G+'s Indie Readers and Writers Community of this development. Hope this picks up steam as it well should!


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## OliviaF (Feb 3, 2013)

I publish to Kobo through Smashwords so I don't have the option to uncheck a box for DRM, though I'm pretty sure Smashwords didn't request the DRM...

If someone figures out what we can do about this please let us all know.


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## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

Blog post on the subject. http://www.simon-royle.com/blog/whsmith-breaking-trust-putting-drm-in-ebooks-without-permission-from-the-authors/


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## Jeroen Steenbeeke (Feb 3, 2012)

Wow, even my books are there. With DRM, despite having explicitly disabled it at Kobo (and everywhere else, for that matter). Not that I've ever *sold* anything through Kobo or affiliates, but still, this sucks.



sgroyle said:


> Blog post on the subject. http://www.simon-royle.com/blog/whsmith-breaking-trust-putting-drm-in-ebooks-without-permission-from-the-authors/


Linked to it on Twitter.


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## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

Story with a KB mention breaks on Telerate...

http://www.teleread.com/drm/wh-smith-adding-drm-to-cory-doctorow-books-and-others/


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

Pretty outrageous, if true.

My only question is, has anyone verified that the DRM is installed, and that it isn't just a listing glitch?


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## 68665 (Mar 20, 2013)

I'm an old, old lurker and just joined.

Here's what Kobo told me about my books:

_Thank you for contacting Kobo Writing Life.

There is a known error on the WHSmith website that is showing DRM-Free books as DRM ePubs. They're working on fixing this issue when they update their website in May.

Even though your books appear as DRM ePub's, any customers that want to purchase your book from WHSmith are directed to our site to make the purchase. On our site your book is correctly listed as DRM-Free.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience that this may cause and hope that this has clarified things for you.

Sincerely,
The Kobo Team_

Hope this helps.

Lear


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Lear said:


> I'm an old, old lurker and just joined.
> 
> Here's what Kobo told me about my books:
> 
> ...


That does help and it sounds reasonable to me.

I just took a look and my e-books ARE listed as DRM on the WH Smith website - however they ARE listed as DRM-FREE on the Kobo website itself.


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## Routhwick (Apr 1, 2012)

Lear said:


> I'm an old, old lurker and just joined.


And welcome aboard, Lear!


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## TJHudson (Jul 9, 2012)

Thank you Lear, and welcome  

I guess we will have to wait till May to find out the truth.


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## gregm (Feb 14, 2013)

I was just scanning Sony's site and they have the same tagline as WH Smith. Now I jumped around between fiction and non-fiction and various category's and all the ones I brought up were marked DRM

Didn't proceed past the description, so I do not know if a purchase sends them to a site like kobo who make the claim that they posted above.


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

Jan Strnad said:


> Pretty outrageous, if true.
> 
> My only question is, has anyone verified that the DRM is installed, and that it isn't just a listing glitch?


THIS!!!! My first reaction is that they have a template that pulls the DRM notice whether the book has it or not.

Has anyone actually BOUGHT their book and checked the downloaded file for DRM?


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## sgroyle (Aug 21, 2010)

The DRM notice has gone. 

It appears that it was just a bug - glad it's been fixed; two months ahead of schedule. Kudos to WHSmith and Kobo for reacting fast and fixing the problem. Thank you. Will now proudly boast that my books are for sale on your site.


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## Eng S Jama (Dec 29, 2014)

Hmm. I've just realised that all ebooks at WH Smith got this daft thing.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

This thread is two years old!


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

Thanks for mistakenly bringing this thread back to life as it got me to search and I have finally made it onto the WH Smith website for my British English and England set non-fiction, but not my American English novel. Now to add the buy links to my websites.


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Thanks Cherise for pointing out the necroposting. I was halfway to a blistering blog post.


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## Kirkee (Apr 2, 2014)

Sgroyle: Thanks for the heads up. I go through D2D myself 
& do not want DRM.


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