Zcult down due to legal threat from Marvel, DC

Wednesday, Nov. 21 2007 | Author: Mel

Obsessive comicbook fans who absolutely must read every single issue that comes out from their beloved titles, or completists that want to read every single issue that is included in massive yearly crossover events can either do two things — spend a majority of their income buying comicbooks or download digitally scanned copies of the comics. For a growing number of collectors, digital comics has been a salve to soothe acute wallet burnout. They can now scan favorite titles or look for issues that they have missed. This makes them buy comics with a bit of foreknowledge, allowing them to just get issues that they really love and skip those that do not pass their personal scrutiny.

But it looks like digital comics is the next big battlefield in IPR issues. Zcult.fm, the comicbook fan site with tracker for digital comics, pulled down its torrent tracker for the time being because of threatened legal action from Marvel and DC comics. The owners of Zcult are said to be mulling over their own response to the legal threat but for the time being put down the tracker first.

Speculation has been rampant about this sudden legal action and many think that this happened because Marvel Comics recently unveiled its digital comicbook archive service (it stands to reason DC will also offer this service). This is another morally and legally ambiguous issue that will affect the hobby of many geeks worldwide.

Category: Comics, General

16 Responses for "Zcult down due to legal threat from Marvel, DC"

Darling Nicky

November 21st, 2007 at 11:59 pm
1

With demonoid down indefinitely, now zcult, It seems there is no comic haven anymore. I haven’t found any since the noid went down..
One Cultist

November 22nd, 2007 at 3:57 am
2

Marvel and DC want the whole community gone forever, of course. This attitude has worked wonders for the record companies, hasn’t it?
What many miss is that Z-cult had, for example, a project that aimed to scan and make available every single comic issued in the forties, mostly by now defunct companies. Does this really affect Marvel & DC’s sales? Their trackers were mostly a source for the odd, the unknown and the unpromoted, where you could go to find stuff you had never heard of, read samples and then decide whether to buy or not. Also the Z-cult-ops have always responded promptly when a publisher have called and asked them to remove their works. The ban lists were strictly enforced and all members took them very seriously. To see DC & Marvel now go out of their way to destroy the whole community, not just the trackers, is painful. Apparently they don’t like comic fans, unless the fans give them money. Non-paying fans and fans who read other publishers stuff should just fade away quietly.
Not likely. We are a community of friends. We will reform the cult under a new name, if necessary, with or without trackers. Certainly without discussion and promotion of Marvel and DC publications, though.
Mel

November 22nd, 2007 at 4:25 am
3

Personally, I applaud what the cultists are doing. I think you guys say it the best with “digital preservation.” I have always believed that fans should be able to do what they want with works of art, be it comics or music. The big companies who just want to crack down on this activity just because it is not putting money into their pockets are just clearly showing who they really are — money grubbing capitalists who are only in it for the almighty dollar. I have been a big Zcult and Oink fan for years and it has never stopped me from buying comicbooks or CDs, so that fear about losing money on torrent fans is so obviously unfounded. I fully support what you and the torrent community is doing. More power to you guys, and long live Zcult and Oink!!
Zleet

November 22nd, 2007 at 6:37 am
4

The digital comic downloads never made me buy less comics. If anything it made me buy more.

It made me able to check series I may not have otherwise looked at, and in turn start collecting them.

I’m thinking this is more because the’ve started their own subscription based online library. Granted i’ll sit at the computer to check out one or two issues, but i’m not going to pay for the honor.
CG

November 22nd, 2007 at 8:54 am
5

Digital comics are what made me buy comics in the first place.

I don’t have regular access to a comic store, so torrents give me an idea of what I want to buy when I actually get to shop, and yes I have bought paper copies of the comics pirate. It also helps me read back issues that have never been/are unlikely to ever be traded.

Z-Cult is a part of my daily Internet life, it pains me to see Marvel have such a knee-jerk reaction to the presence of it’s trackers.
TZP

November 22nd, 2007 at 1:39 pm
6

The way I see it with these sites, is that it was a great way for someone who had other wise never considered comics; Myself included. If it weren’t for cbr files, I would never have gotten into comic, and certainly never would have started buying them.
How are these sites any different then one friend loaning a book to another. “hey man you should read this”—-> “thanks I think I will, Ill bring it back later”
Its the same thing. are The Industries trying to tell us were not a lot to loan our books to friends after we’ve bought them? They’re getting too greedy in my opinion and going too far. sites like demonoid and zcult offered us all a place to, like someone said earlier, a chance to sample things.
icelator

November 22nd, 2007 at 2:00 pm
7

one company should never decide that a site can’t host another company’s material, marvel has no right to demand the shutdown of the entire sight only the hosting of marvel comics.
Willie

November 22nd, 2007 at 2:45 pm
8

I don’t live in the US, I live in Italy. I used to download monthly issues and then piggyback 1-2 TPB every time I made an order from amazon.co.uk or amazon.de. I was going to complete the TPB collections of Fables and probably The Walking Dead in december, but now I’m so pissed off that I think I’m going to keep my money well away from those *******
Culterist

November 22nd, 2007 at 8:11 pm
9

Long time customer, but not any more.

As someone pointed out already, aping the music business is by no means a route to success. The market has already spoken. It likes scans and doesn’t like crappy Java based e-comics. Scanners will scan, people will go someplace else, word will spread and we will give the majors less of our money, mostly out of spite.
Mel

November 22nd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
10

How do you guys think scans will survive? It’s the 23rd already with no new DCP release in sight. I am really worried about this. Is there any way the community can consolidate again just like what Serj and the rest of the Zcult guys did? Oink and the rest of the crew at Oink.me.uk are trying to keep it together via IRC. But I would still love to see the old sharing community come back to life.

By the way, thanks so much for voicing your opinions here. I really appreciate it. :)
One Cultist

November 23rd, 2007 at 6:16 am
11

Mel: Trust me, the Cult will survive in one form or another, and the trackers will be replaced although maybe not by Serj. Setting up a tracker is not THAT hard, and if only one cult member in one thousand decides to “roll his own”, thats about sixty trackers. The Z-cult community has over 65000 registered members. The difference will probably be that everything will be harder to find initially.
Mel

November 23rd, 2007 at 1:16 pm
12

The DCP releases are not connected with Zcult, right? I’m just curious about the conscpicuous absence of any new DCP releases since the 19th. I hope the DCP guys still continue what they’re doing.
downloader

November 23rd, 2007 at 3:57 pm
13

I buy around $50 a month worth of Marvel titles at my LCS in DE. I read comics as a kid and got back into it at 32 because I found Zcult on the web downloaded some of my old favorite titles and started collecting again. There were some titles I found on Zcult, liked and started buying and other titles (probably less than 3) that I just read the downloaded version. Regardless, now at 35 I don’t feel the need to spend more than I am spending to stay involved in comics. I’ll probably hang it up until I can pay a subscription like $10 a month for unlimited access to new and old Marvel titles. The caveat to this is if there are enough guys like me out there who withdraw thier fiscal support over this, Marvel (and DC for that matter) won’t have the capitol to develop their online catalog. This is a bad move on thier part, and I think it’s going to hurt them. I see the need for a more legitimate online solution but they shouldn’t have dinged their supporters like this until they had it ready.
Jiminy

November 23rd, 2007 at 5:02 pm
14

Why would they need capital to develop an online catalog? last time I checked, there were high quality scans of their entire release schedules already posted to the net. They could dl their own books and sell them right back to the public.

Legal downloading only works for people who are willing to pay. Illegal downloading usually promotes the best possible way to package something for consumption (balancing compression, quality, ease of use, etc). Put the two together and you’ve got the best of both worlds.

In regards to those who won’t pay no matter what, those fans can be an asset through free promotion. Restrictive DRM encumbered business models will never beat the p2p business model, so companies need to adapt to survive.
Daniel Kuykendall

November 23rd, 2007 at 8:00 pm
15

It is sad to see this happen…. I enjoy reading the older issues and older stories.. Those back issues from years ago generally u cant afford.. And downloading them makes all that available to you…

Im a marvel guy.. Always have been… And i have had a few thousand comics in my collection over the years.. Most of wich im sad to say iv sold off or traded.. Id hate to add up what it would cost now to go back and buy those books again just to read…

Guess the point im makeing is thank god for the cult who had scans of these books that i could never afford and never got to read… Its really a sad day…
John Risko

December 2nd, 2007 at 4:21 pm
16

On the other hand, speaking for the majority of downloaders, most of my comic purchases ended when I discovered this site. I guess there are a few heroic people here who went on to buy hard copies of their favorite books, but face it, for every one of them, there’s 12 people like me who didn’t. The ironic thing is I have more than enough money to buy whatever I want, its just working that hard to earn it makes downloading infinitely easier. I’ve been expecting this day to come for a long time now. How could the free ride continue? These companies spend a lot of money, employ a horde of incredibly talented people and respond to a lot of selfish whining from a lot of selfish people in an effort to bring universes to life in our minds! They may do it because keeping the customers happy keeps everyone working, but the minute you start downloading is the minute you’re no longer a customer, and lose your right to complain! I’m happy to see them taking steps to safeguard stories and characters I love, ones that won’t survive if only 20% of the readership is paying. The rest of us can see how long we last reading in the store, or should we rail against the evil comic store owners who insist their shops are not libraries!
Now I’m off to get a subscription or whatever to Fables and Ex Machina, two incredible books who’s every issue I’ve read but never once purchased. And I’m happy to do so…