Major science fiction publisher to zap DRM

Specialist Sci-Fi publisher Tom Doherty Associates, best known for its Tor, Forge and Starscape imprints, is calling time on DRM..

From today, its e-book offerings will be free of digital rights management shackles, TDA said.

As well as TDA's US output, the move will apply to Pan Macmillan, which offers Sci-Fi titles in the UK under the Tor brand.

UK DRM-free releases will begin rolling out over the next three months, Pan Macmillan said, after the publisher talks to its authors about it.

“Our authors and readers have been asking for this for a long time,” said TDA president and publisher Tom Doherty.

“They’re a technically sophisticated bunch, and DRM is a constant annoyance to them. It prevents them from using legitimately-purchased e-books in perfectly legal ways, like moving them from one kind of e-reader to another.”

Jeremy Trevathan, Pan Macmillan’s Fiction Publisher, added: "We also understand that readers in this community feel strongly about this."

Tor UK numbers Douglas Adams, Greg Bear, Paul Cornell, Peter F Hamilton and China Miéville among its authors.

TDA is part of the Macmillan group, which is in turn owned by German publishing combine Holtzbrinck. ®