From the arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov in 2001 to our protest at the Boston Public Library earlier this year, the issue of DRM on eBooks and audiobooks is not a new one. OverDrive continues to push DRM on library patrons and libraries.

Random House, one of the largest publishers of eBooks and audio books worldwide, recently announced its decision to drop DRM from the vast majority of its catalog. Random House made this decision after doing a study which found zero cases of DRM-free works being shared illegally. They found that it was ONLY the DRMed titles that were being shared. Both Penguin and Simon & Schuster followed suit and announced plans to remove DRM from their collections as well.

OverDrive, in response to this pressure, now does have a small DRM-free selection, representing a few dozen items in its collection of thousands of items. With more pressure, they can be convinced to offer more.

Take Action!

Join your fellow anti-DRM activists in boycotting DRMed books produced by OverDrive and others. You can act by sending a copy of our letter to your local public libraries, especially if they're using OverDrive services.