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I simply can't find my favorite Graphic Novels in DRM-free format outside pirate streams. I want to pay for them, but there is no scenario where I'll shell out

I simply can't find my favorite Graphic Novels in DRM-free format outside pirate streams. I want to pay for them, but there is no scenario where I'll shell out hundreds of dollars to rent content from big DRM providers like Amazon. I'm not as afraid of completely losing our cultural memory exactly because "piracy" can't be ultimately defeated: As long as people can consume their DRM-protected content, there will be always a way to remove the DRM and offer it through alternate means. I understand the risk of civil disobedience, however it seems that there has never been a time without the risk-takers that effectively protect our cultural heritage. Despite the immense power of the immoral US Copyright law, it's not all-powerful as places like sci-hub prove.

sonicanatidae 3y ago
The media giants did this, with exactly what you mentioned. DRM. I can download a movie for free, or I can spring $20-30 for the DVD, then sit through forced FBI warnings, then previews, etc. when I really just wanted to watch a damn movie. They shifted the burden to the consumer (time wasted) and in a world with piracy, good luck with that model.
- rapind 3y ago
  This reminds me of advertising in movie theatres now. I show up to a movie 15 minutes late to skip the insane number of ads.
  - xp84 3y ago
    Previews are pretty annoying to me too but I’m curious: if you like movies, how do you find out about them? I don’t watch ad-supported TV and opt out of ads wherever I can (YouTube Premium, Hulu etc). When I was in my early 20s in the 2000s, I could go to a theater and just know what the deal was for 90% of the movies that were playing at a 20-plex automatically just from TV ads and a few late-night-show actor interviews. Today I know zero (other than recognizing which one is some Marvel thing). If you dropped me off at the movies I wouldn’t know what to watch without googling them all.
    - sonicanatidae 3y ago
      I'm more of a reader than a movie watcher, but the way I find out about new movies: 1. Word of Mouth 2. Internet reviews 3. IMDB 4. it's up on l33. ;)
- ruszki 3y ago
  It’s even worse. For example 4K blu-ray cannot be played on new laptops no matter what. Also 4K is not supported by Netflix, Disney+, Prime video, HBO Max, etc on PCs. So I can only watch them if I “purchase” them on YouTube, Amazon, etc to stream them. Hell no.
  - sonicanatidae 3y ago
    I wouldn't know, since I've never purchased a blueray movie. To those that want to do this the legal way, purchase it, throw it in a box, then pirate a version of the movie that doesn't treat you like a clown.
  - fragmede 3y ago
    https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/library/4k-titles-on-netflix/ https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/library/4k-titles-on-netfli... Netflix has a bunch of stuff in 4k. Do they not count for some reason?
    - sonicanatidae 3y ago
      They do count, but count less every time they raise prices, while dropping titles from their catalogs, and ending popular series within 1-2 seasons, etc. They are racing to become the very thing that got them the traction they had in the beginning. People are fucking tired of paying more for less, while being told how fucking great it all is.
    - ruszki 3y ago
      Yes, they have, but you can’t watch them in 4K on PC/Mac.
maccard 3y ago
I've got slightly less sympathy (but still sympathy) for you than the GP - your issue is that it's not available on your terms, OP's issue is that it's not available legally.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
  > available on your terms Why does this desire make them less sympathetic? The irritating thing about this is that one may be unable to find some movie or song which they’ve already seen or heard. Even in a case where it is officially available, gating some record of culture behind a fee is just holding said culture hostage to ransom it back. More charitably, it’s someone attempting a business model which is thwarted by how inexpensive it is for individuals to copy and share digital media. I instead lack sympathy for the people with an obviously bad business strategy and prefer to recognize this culture-renting as farcical. (That question I asked wasn’t rhetorical; I am genuinely interested in the answer but I also wanted to explain a different perspective.)
  - maccard 3y ago
    Saying "I refuse to use the media as you provided it, will pirate it for my personal use" is akin to walking into a greengrocer, taking a 1kg bag of carrots and pulling two of them out and demanding to only pay for them because you only want two. Particularly when it comes to arts - games (disclaimer: I work in games), music (disclaimer I make music), art, theatre, there is usually another person I the other side of it who has made decisions to get that to you in the first place. Saying "my way or the highway" doesn't show Amazon that you're not willing to engage with the Kindle DRM and will buy it if they provide CC licensed prints, it shows them you're willing to dodge paying $10 instead. > it’s someone attempting a business model which is thwarted by how inexpensive it is for individuals to copy and share digital media. I instead lack sympathy for the people with an obviously bad business strategy and prefer to recognize this culture-renting as farcical. An over idealistic belief of free market being the only way that a product can exist, and throwing jingoism and shade at at anything you disagree with furthers the idea that you're not open to compromise. Compromising is the basis of any transaction - I want the item for free and you want to be recognised for it, so we come to an agreement.

sonicanatidae 3y ago

The media giants did this, with exactly what you mentioned. DRM. I can download a movie for free, or I can spring $20-30 for the DVD, then sit through forced FBI warnings, then previews, etc. when I really just wanted to watch a damn movie. They shifted the burden to the consumer (time wasted) and in a world with piracy, good luck with that model.

rapind 3y ago
This reminds me of advertising in movie theatres now. I show up to a movie 15 minutes late to skip the insane number of ads.
- xp84 3y ago
  Previews are pretty annoying to me too but I’m curious: if you like movies, how do you find out about them? I don’t watch ad-supported TV and opt out of ads wherever I can (YouTube Premium, Hulu etc). When I was in my early 20s in the 2000s, I could go to a theater and just know what the deal was for 90% of the movies that were playing at a 20-plex automatically just from TV ads and a few late-night-show actor interviews. Today I know zero (other than recognizing which one is some Marvel thing). If you dropped me off at the movies I wouldn’t know what to watch without googling them all.
  - sonicanatidae 3y ago
    I'm more of a reader than a movie watcher, but the way I find out about new movies: 1. Word of Mouth 2. Internet reviews 3. IMDB 4. it's up on l33. ;)
ruszki 3y ago
It’s even worse. For example 4K blu-ray cannot be played on new laptops no matter what. Also 4K is not supported by Netflix, Disney+, Prime video, HBO Max, etc on PCs. So I can only watch them if I “purchase” them on YouTube, Amazon, etc to stream them. Hell no.
- sonicanatidae 3y ago
  I wouldn't know, since I've never purchased a blueray movie. To those that want to do this the legal way, purchase it, throw it in a box, then pirate a version of the movie that doesn't treat you like a clown.
- fragmede 3y ago
  https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/library/4k-titles-on-netflix/ https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/library/4k-titles-on-netfli... Netflix has a bunch of stuff in 4k. Do they not count for some reason?
  - sonicanatidae 3y ago
    They do count, but count less every time they raise prices, while dropping titles from their catalogs, and ending popular series within 1-2 seasons, etc. They are racing to become the very thing that got them the traction they had in the beginning. People are fucking tired of paying more for less, while being told how fucking great it all is.
  - ruszki 3y ago
    Yes, they have, but you can’t watch them in 4K on PC/Mac.

maccard 3y ago

I've got slightly less sympathy (but still sympathy) for you than the GP - your issue is that it's not available on your terms, OP's issue is that it's not available legally.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
> available on your terms Why does this desire make them less sympathetic? The irritating thing about this is that one may be unable to find some movie or song which they’ve already seen or heard. Even in a case where it is officially available, gating some record of culture behind a fee is just holding said culture hostage to ransom it back. More charitably, it’s someone attempting a business model which is thwarted by how inexpensive it is for individuals to copy and share digital media. I instead lack sympathy for the people with an obviously bad business strategy and prefer to recognize this culture-renting as farcical. (That question I asked wasn’t rhetorical; I am genuinely interested in the answer but I also wanted to explain a different perspective.)
- maccard 3y ago
  Saying "I refuse to use the media as you provided it, will pirate it for my personal use" is akin to walking into a greengrocer, taking a 1kg bag of carrots and pulling two of them out and demanding to only pay for them because you only want two. Particularly when it comes to arts - games (disclaimer: I work in games), music (disclaimer I make music), art, theatre, there is usually another person I the other side of it who has made decisions to get that to you in the first place. Saying "my way or the highway" doesn't show Amazon that you're not willing to engage with the Kindle DRM and will buy it if they provide CC licensed prints, it shows them you're willing to dodge paying $10 instead. > it’s someone attempting a business model which is thwarted by how inexpensive it is for individuals to copy and share digital media. I instead lack sympathy for the people with an obviously bad business strategy and prefer to recognize this culture-renting as farcical. An over idealistic belief of free market being the only way that a product can exist, and throwing jingoism and shade at at anything you disagree with furthers the idea that you're not open to compromise. Compromising is the basis of any transaction - I want the item for free and you want to be recognised for it, so we come to an agreement.