Comixology, the digital comics company owned by Amazon, has begun offering users backups of their purchased comics, without copy-protection and in open file formats.
The New-York based firm, purchased by Amazon for an undisclosed sum in April 2014, had previously only allowed users to access their purchased comics through its branded apps on iOS ad Android and its online web app.
But from Friday, readers can also download their comics as PDF or CBZ files, the latter a file format specifically designed for comics, and read them on any device that they want, online or off. The downloads will also contain no digital rights management (DRM) systems, software which prevents users from accessing their media on unauthorised systems.
"Offering DRM-free backups to you and our customers-to-be is another step in taking comics further, and serves our mission to turn everyone on the face of the planet into a comics fan," the company's CEO and co-founder, David Steinberger, said in an email to customers. "There is much more to come."
At launch, availability is limited to a small number of participating publishers, led by Image Comics, publisher of hits such as the Walking Dead. Also involved are Dynamite Entertainment, Zenescope Entertainment, MonkeyBrain Comics, Thrillbent, and Top Shelf Productions.
Notably absent are Marvel and DC, the two biggest publishers in the industry. Each of them sells their books through Comixology, as well as having their own co-branded apps tied into the company's ecosystem.
Amazon itself offers users the ability to back up digital purchases without DRM in some, but not all, of its services. The company's music downloads are unprotected MP3 files, but videos downloaded through its Instant Video service are protected. As for Kindle books, some have DRM and some do not; the company no longer warns customers before purchase which are which, and all downloads are in a proprietary format which cannot be read by other devices.
"The reading landscape has changed and you can't dictate how people read a book or even how they buy a book nowadays - if the readers wants it on their iPad they will find a way whether you have it for sale digitally or not," says Doctor Who artist Marc Ellerby. "Ownership's a big thing in e-reading and I've been selling a modest amount of my ebooks as DRM free PDFs via Great Beast for the past few years, but I've got a sneaking suspicion that this move from Comixology will hit those direct sales."
The move is the second major change introduced at Comixology since it was purchased by Amazon. The first involved the company removing in-app purchases from its iOS app, in an apparent attempt to stop paying Apple a 30% cut. "Since Amazon bought Comixology we've really felt the force of their new conglomerate owners," says Ellerby. "Is this a step forward for the company in general? I very much doubt it. It seems Amazon is being forceful with one hand and gentle with the other."
On Thursday, Amazon announced quarterly losses of $126m (￡74m), even with a 23% increase in revenue to $19.34bn. The company pinned the blame on heavy spending on its Fire Phone, as well as new services including grocery delivery and video streaming.
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