Will scanning hurt the magazine industry?

[polka_dot]

I honestly don't believe it hurts the magazine industry at all in terms of money. The majority of their revenue (54% in 2004) comes from their advertisers that are willing to pay thousands of dollars per page.

It's more a matter of copyright than anything else.

 

[fashionista-ta]

I have bought more magazines (including pricey imports) due to scans, not less. I subscribe to most American fashion magazines, and buy foreign and specialty ones (like WWD the Magazine) semi-regularly. I like to take a magazine along whenever I'm going to be waiting somewhere (unless I know for a fact they have a well-stocked waiting room, rarely the case these days) or if I'm going to be eating by myself. Scans don't do the trick in those cases ...

I have also subscribed to new magazines due to seeing scans. Seems to me the mags are shooting themselves in the foot as scans are great advertising for them ... fashion magazines (compared to shelter magazines) generally do a piss-poor job of previewing their content for potential subscribers in their mailings.

 

[LoveMyBoots]

Well the scans are great and I am always happy when I find some cool "scanned" editorial or a cover. But there is nothing like to hold the original magazine - many times i am printing the scans, but its not the same and never will be. And another point - when I see something I really like I just go out and buy the magazine. And I dont thing its just me buying the mags because of a particular stuff I have seen on the internet before.

I have to agree with that. If I see an amazing editorial or an article I desperately want to read through a scan, I'm willing to purchase the magazine if I feel they are worth it. Having scans saved on my computer isn't the same as saving an issue for years and years and looking back on it every once and while. To me that's worth the $5 or $20 (foreign mag.).

This is a great topic with great discussion going back and forth!

 

[MulletProof]

hopefully it'll only encourage them to increase the quality of their work- speaking for myself only, if i really like the cover of one magazine or the editorials..looking at the images on my screen is not nearly as pleasant as having the magazine on my hands and staring at it for hours...

if i see the scan of the insides of a magazine i had doubts about...and realize how crap it was, i just feel so happy i didnt waste a cent on it.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

The corporate scum who publish magazines deserve to lose money anyway...

 

[Alejandro]

I have stopped buying magazines cause I have this site.

So imagine the loss on magazine sales cause of fashion forums...

 

[Avant Garde]

Publishers could beat us at our own game and post their own HQ editorial photos, ie Vogue Italia, Vogue, and W. But I doubt they would ever post all the editorials in an issue online

 

[Hard Core Dior]

i found what they did to BWGREYSCALE pathetic; quite honestly, it was one of the best scan collections! as many members said, seeing scans doesn't stop me from buying magazines, it actually makes me go out and buy them when i see scans i like! plus, most scans save me the effort of going through all my magazines, ripping them and etcetera.

 

[MakeUpJunkie]

i found what they did to BWGREYSCALE pathetic; quite honestly, it was one of the best scan collections! as many members said, seeing scans doesn't stop me from buying magazines, it actually makes me go out and buy them when i see scans i like! plus, most scans save me the effort of going through all my magazines, ripping them and etcetera.

RIP BWGreyscale...

I really feel bad for the owner. I dont think they did anything wrong, and now they need to go to court.

 

[Hard Core Dior]

^ Wait, so he has to go to court even though he removed everything? :x

 

[MakeUpJunkie]

^ Wait, so he has to go to court even though he removed everything? :x

I'm not sure, but I just checked and he is reuploading everything now!!!

He posted this in May:

Most of you know about the C&D (Cease & Desist) sent to me by Victoria Secret. That, in itself, was a minor annoyance. I would have been happy just to delete that 1 page from my site and say "Good Riddance" to them. The bigger problem came the next day, when I received a 2nd lawsuit from Advance Magazine Publishers Inc (Conde Nast ... Vogue, Glamour, Allure, Mademoiselle, Jane and more). I ignored it, as lawsuits do not usually arrive via e-mail, but the next morning, the Fed-Ex guy showed up at my house with the documents

The next day, same thing ... this time from Hearst Media (Cosmopolitan, Harpers Bazaar, Marie Claire, etc) and their suit was even nastier than the previous one.

Apparently, a law has been revised to close the loophole of the "fair use law" which websites would use in their defense. The Online Copyright infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C sec 504 and 512. These suits were also filed against my webhost, which puts a lot of pressure on all of us to act quickly.

I am not sure if they joined forces, or its just a coincidence that the suits all came at the same time, but either way, there is nothing I can do about it. I have no defense !!!

I have been thinking about what to do with bwgreyscale.com all week. I have decided that it would be a shame to delete all the information, and links from existance, so I am turning it into a "Fashion Link Portal" which will allow me to save all the links and information contained in it. I will also slowly be adding scans (from OTHER publishers magazines) to augment the site, and of course, the boards will remain

 

[FC5]

I honestly don't believe it hurts the magazine industry at all in terms of money. The majority of their revenue (54% in 2004) comes from their advertisers that are willing to pay thousands of dollars per page.

Actually it is a matter of money - not just in lost sales but in lost advertising. As circulation figures drop due to lost sales so advertising rates fall too - an unfortunate feedback loop for the magazines - they get hit twice.

Revenue for most magazines has been falling steadily for sometime. That is by no means only down to scanning - simple competition from legitimate online publications is a bigger threat. The combined result is that magazines are getting desperate. On one hand, they are fighting the unauthorised use of their content. On the other they are forcing their contributors to accept lower editorial rates and/or grabbing extra use without the corresponding additional payment for foreign and online syndication.

Recently online advertising has started to mature - it is finally being seen as a valid medium. So web based publications should be benefiting. That is unlikely to see them ceasing to be bothered about copyright - far from it. Those publishing online will still be under the same pressure to ensure that their content is the honey that draws readers to their sites in order their newly increased ad rates.

 

[nicolefan]

I think the legal threats surrounding pictures on fan-created sites is a real problem and worry, very unfairly.

But, i think scanning may help the magazine industry in some ways. Eg, you see scans of a celebrity you're interested in online, so you go out and buy the magazine so you can see the pictures in full quality. At least, I know that's what I do regularly. Equally, scanning doesn't make a difference, and in this case I mean if you like a particular celebrity, or magazine you'll buy the magazine regardless of whether you've seen the scans online or not. Again, I do this - I'll buy a magazine with Nicole Kidman (for one example) in whether I have 10 different copies of the scans or not. *shrugs*

 

[nicolefan]

Revenue for most magazines has been falling steadily for sometime.

I would put that down to there being SO many magazines now; magazines being so expensive that some people just don't buy them, but look through them in shops instead; the content going downhill; as you pointed out, online magazines and the like; and probably other reasons...

 

[liberty33r1b]

I have bought more magazines (including pricey imports) due to scans, not less. I subscribe to most American fashion magazines, and buy foreign and specialty ones (like WWD the Magazine) semi-regularly. I like to take a magazine along whenever I'm going to be waiting somewhere (unless I know for a fact they have a well-stocked waiting room, rarely the case these days) or if I'm going to be eating by myself. Scans don't do the trick in those cases ...

I have also subscribed to new magazines due to seeing scans. Seems to me the mags are shooting themselves in the foot as scans are great advertising for them ... fashion magazines (compared to shelter magazines) generally do a piss-poor job of previewing their content for potential subscribers in their mailings.

same here! it's just a matter of being more AWARE of all the mags out there due to this site which actually makes me buy MORE, instead of less. scans alone are like advertising, just inducing me to buy the real thing.....i have to have the pics in quality print, and be able to look at them whenever i want.

 

[loverunway]

I think the opposite, scans make me want to buy the magazine!

 

[vogue28]

i think of scans as a preview of the magazine. I never used to buy US, FRENCH, GERMAN or SPANISH vogue until I came onto this website and saw that the contents of an issue was amazing. So I think sometimes, in most cases I does not harm at all.

 

[candysweet21]

I don't think so at all. I like to see scans of editorials but if the ed is something I like I will still buy the magazine. Scans are nice but they can't compare to the real pictures at least not to me anyway

I think scans actually help to spread the reputation of the magazine if its good.

Viewing scans and not buying magazines is just like flicking through a magazine at a store and not buying it.

 

[ad040418]

I definitely prefer flipping through glossy pages and looking at the editorials. I usually look at scans first, and if its good, I will buy.

Some of the magazines at my bookstore are shrink wrapped, so I have no idea what is inside. Scans defintely helps me. On the contrary, looking at scans make me purchase much more magazines instead!!

 

[modela]

I live in Holland which means that a
majority of the foreign publications cost around 8 up to 12/13 Euro's .This site alllows me to browse through the content and based upon that i decide
wether
to buy the issue.I dont think it will hurt them , sites like these can give them free recignition especially for the smaller magazines. There are alot of magazines that i wouldn't have noticed if it wasnt for sites like these.Pure,ViCE,AMICA,COVER and the list goes on and on....