When did Cory Doctorow stop making (new) books downloadable for free?

September 22, 2017 10:21 AM

I have been a fan of his for some time, but can't seem to find anywhere online mentioning this, including his own site. I figure he would have certainly expounded on it somewhere, which I am curious about. Anyone? Thanks! : )
posted by bitterkitten to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

I don't know offhand. He does seem to be responsive to comments on his Shop page on his website. He was a strong advocate for CC licenses on his works as recently at 2013.
posted by jessamyn at 10:36 AM on September 22, 2017

Many of the items on that shop page are still available for $0 (though he encourages you to spend more), including his second most recent book, the 2014 Information Doesn't Want to Be Free. It looks like maybe it's just the newest book (Walkaway) that isn't Creative Commons-ed?

Like you I am surprised that he hasn't discussed it, since that CC thing is pretty core to the Doctorow experience, and I see on his blog that he still posts frequently about copyright and DRM.
posted by crazy with stars at 2:30 PM on September 22, 2017

I may be misremembering this but I think he has said in at least one interview (or perhaps it was a Boing Boing post) that he hasn’t provided free or CC downloads for some of his works is due to his publishers and not his personal wishes.
posted by Eikonaut at 10:27 PM on September 22, 2017

Here's Cory talking about wanting Walkaway, his latest book, to be CC but that not being critical. And here's Cory writing about making a "fair-trade" ebook sales site, but I'm not clear if it exists, and if so, where.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:31 AM on October 3, 2017