Marvel Comics to go online.

I'm reading the stories on CBR. I would've talked about it, but oh well.

But it's funny, because while you keep the no mention name, MW is mentioning them, even though they have that rule, too. Silly them.


Anyways, the reason Company Online Tracker (that's what I'll call them) said they went back online is that they're not based in America, therefor they don't have to comply. But if the companies really want to, "they can contact us via our website and tell us politely." That made me laugh. I mean, that part there is really childish.


Also, while I also totally understand why Marvel and DC are doing this, I still think it's stupid they waited so many years to do something. I know now it's because of their online program they're starting up now, but still.
 
Apparently DC are going to let them host the comics but only 30 days after the comic has been released.
 
ProjectX2 said:
Apparently DC are going to let them host the comics but only 30 days after the comic has been released.
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I'm not sure if that's the exact agreement (my understanding was that it was a purely administrative decision to use 30 day terms and had nothing to do with DC) but if they did that would be brilliant on DC's part.
 
E said:
You guys should be following this. Precedents are being set here that can have MAJOR effects on comics distribution. This is one of the most important news stories to hit comics in a long time.
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I totally agree with this.

And the thing is that this makes total sense for Marvel (and most any other comic book company) since they rely heavily on Diamond Comic Distributors for direct market distribution.

Fortunately, Diamond hasn't really gone out of its way to exploit its near-monopoly --- to my memory --- so it's not like Diamond is an ******* organization, but I'm sure the fact that that near-monopoly exists is a source of unease for most comic book companies.
 
A letter from a certain online comic sharer:


This letter comes about in the wake of several important developments in comics on the internet, and in particular Marvels recent launch of its online comics service.

Up until recently, The 'big two' in comics (Marvel and DC) have turned a blind eye to the rampant pirating of their comics and their distribution online via usenet and bittorrent. I'd make the argument that the recent upsurge in the popularity of comics, and the growth of the industry as a whole is due to, not in despite of this policy. A policy that Marvel has thrown out in recent days with it's cease and desist letter to popular comics website Zcultfm.

Marvel seems to be operating under the impression that stamping out piracy is the way forward, that people downloading scans of comics aren't buying the print versions and the way round this problem is to clamp down on illegal distribution and point people at their online service instead.

I (and the many other people who use this site) can already see this isn't going to work. Not only that, but it's a completely misguided idea to begin with. You only have to look at the example of the RIAA and it's persecution of music downloaders to see that attacking fans who want to see / listen to your product is not only misguided, it's downright stupid.

As things stand at the moment, Marvel and DC are in an enviable position. Their fans love them. People download comics not because they don't want to buy them, but because they want an electronic version they can read, and organise more easily without damaging their precious print versions. Look at any one of the users of (am oline comic sharer) or this site and you'll find they have vast libraries of print comics neatly catalogued and safely put away, and they keep the scans on their computer where they're easily accessible. Marvel's recent online service, while a nice first tetative step into the online world isn't what people want from electonic comics. You can't download the comics to your machine (only read them online) and the selection of comics available is sparse at best. The other enviable aspect of Marvel / DCs position is this: Their product has a value above and beyond it's content. People don't download comics instead of buying them, they download comics as well as buying them. And then there's the vast sums of money in the industry that don't even come from the comics... movies, merchandise etc. That money isn't going to shrink because a few people download comics, it's going to vastly increase as more and more people get into comics after checking them out online.

Marvel (in my opinion) has the chance, now, to show the way forward for intellectual property holders in the digital age. Don't try and stop the pirates, embrace them as the true fans they are and let them do the work of spreading the word about your product. Yes, it's a gamble...but it's one that, when it pays off will do your reputation and more importantly your product the world of good.


Brought to you by Newsarama.
 
I got an e-mail from Marvel about this. It gave me a link to here : http://www.marvel.com/digitalcomics...utm_medium=EMT&utm_content=3&utm_campaign=CA1


$59.88 a year for unlimited comics? I'mm going to be taking this up. Sure like I mentioned I won't be getting Ultimate spider-man from it as I read it in tpb but there is so many comics I wouldn't mind getting in to.

  • Ultimate Fantastic four
  • Ultimate X-men again
  • Ultimates
  • Old Spider-man comics I loved first time arouund but my collection got stole
  • 2099
  • the Manga Spider-man
  • and so much more


I think this will really pay off. E.g I don't like the new comics HOWEVER now that they'll be included in my $59.88 (So £30 here) I'll read them and more that I wasn't certain on but now I can try and enjoy.

This looks great
 
That works out to $5/month - that would be a great price and one I'd gladly pay...

...if they put up new comics.
 
E said:
That works out to $5/month - that would be a great price and one I'd gladly pay...

...if they put up new comics.
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They will do they say "New additions every week" Unless you mean new as in just out. They should add new ones and old ones.
 
SSJmole said:
They will do they say "New additions every week" Unless you mean new as in just out. They should add new ones and old ones.
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I do mean NEW comics - comics that are out that week.

I'm not buying them anyway; the comic shops aren't losing anything from me.

So either they can take my $5 and everyone's happy, or they can continue to sit idly and get nothing while I download them.

Seems like an easy choice to me.
 
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