A new digital rights management
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 5:23 am
(DRM) technology that is open source—and embraced by publishers—is gaining traction in the library eBook world.
Readium LCP was developed five years ago to protect digital files from unauthorized distribution. Unlike proprietary platforms, the technology is open to anyone who wants to look inside the codebase and make improvements. It is a promising alternative for libraries and users wanting to avoid the limitations of traditional DRM.
“It’s important to have a decentralized, open source system for lending and accurate cleaned numbers list from frist database vending eBooks,” said Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive founder. “LCP is a new generation of software protection that is proving popular with both libraries and publishers.”
LCP is a flexible, vendor-neutral, low-cost solution against over-sharing of content for eBooks, as well as audiobooks. The codebase is open source with the exception of an algorithm that protects the files.
“LCP was developed in conjunction with publishers to make sure it would meet their criteria to safeguard the content of their books,” said Brenton Cheng, senior engineer at the Internet Archive. “Yet, it’s an open format, and not tied to one particular company or commercial entity. In that spirit of openness, it’s available to anyone who wants to protect their content.”
A number of leading publishers, libraries and book distributors have adopted LCP, including:
HarperCollins integrated LCP into its Harlequin Plus subscription service.
Academic publisher John Libbey Eurotext has adopted LCP for its 2022 publications.
Stockholm Public Library has incorporated LCP into its Bibblix mobile app for young readers.
Numilog has deployed LCP for more than 500,000 eBooks in French & English.
BiblioVault adopted LCP in 2021, serving more than 90 scholarly presses & 40,000 books.
The Palace Project has integrated LCP into its mobile apps.
Readium LCP was developed five years ago to protect digital files from unauthorized distribution. Unlike proprietary platforms, the technology is open to anyone who wants to look inside the codebase and make improvements. It is a promising alternative for libraries and users wanting to avoid the limitations of traditional DRM.
“It’s important to have a decentralized, open source system for lending and accurate cleaned numbers list from frist database vending eBooks,” said Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive founder. “LCP is a new generation of software protection that is proving popular with both libraries and publishers.”
LCP is a flexible, vendor-neutral, low-cost solution against over-sharing of content for eBooks, as well as audiobooks. The codebase is open source with the exception of an algorithm that protects the files.
“LCP was developed in conjunction with publishers to make sure it would meet their criteria to safeguard the content of their books,” said Brenton Cheng, senior engineer at the Internet Archive. “Yet, it’s an open format, and not tied to one particular company or commercial entity. In that spirit of openness, it’s available to anyone who wants to protect their content.”
A number of leading publishers, libraries and book distributors have adopted LCP, including:
HarperCollins integrated LCP into its Harlequin Plus subscription service.
Academic publisher John Libbey Eurotext has adopted LCP for its 2022 publications.
Stockholm Public Library has incorporated LCP into its Bibblix mobile app for young readers.
Numilog has deployed LCP for more than 500,000 eBooks in French & English.
BiblioVault adopted LCP in 2021, serving more than 90 scholarly presses & 40,000 books.
The Palace Project has integrated LCP into its mobile apps.