Potter Books On Sale As Downloads As Piracy Safeguard

Missed this one yesterday: a significant news in the world of audio book downloads: The Harry Potter novels have been put on sale as audio downloads on iTunes, in a bid by author JK Rowling to tackle piracy.

All six books, including the most recent release Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, can now be purchased via Apple’s iTunes site…the sale is exclusive to iTunes for now.

Rowling sanctioned the move after fans reported online bootleg editions. On her own site, she writes: “Many Harry Potter fans have been keen for digital access for a while, but the deciding factor for me in authorising this new version is that it will help combat the growing incidents of piracy in this area. There have been a number of incidents where fans have stumbled upon unauthorised files believing them to be genuine and, quite apart from the fact that they are illegal, the Harry Potter content of these can bear very little resemblance to anything I’ve ever written!”

On a related note, this is the first audiobook exclusive on iTunes, from what I know. Till now, it was using Audible, which itself has an exclusive premium audiobooks contract with Apple, until 2007. Audible CEO Don Katz e-mailed me that Audible is involved with Potter downloads exclusive as well (though it is not yet on sale on Audible, and that “[We] have done other exclusive windows with iTunes. We participate in the revenue stream, etc.”

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