Magazine-Sharing Site Loses Access to Magazines

Mygazines.com, a magazine sharing website that launched a few months ago and was quickly sued by publishers, has likely met its demise after a settlement that has stripped the company of its main asset, reports Folio.

The site's owner has agreed to remove copyrighted content, review and screen uploads for any content not authorized by the publishers and open a channel to allow Mygazines to be notified when copyrighted content appears, a source has informed Folio.

The law firms representing both sides aren't offering many details on the settlement, but the prosecutor did provide a name of the owner. 

Initial speculation led many to believe that the company was based in the Caribbean, but it turns out that the man behind the site, Darren Andrew Budd, is actually from Toronto.

Mygazine.com's homepage now looks quite different than it did at launch, with its featured selection consisting mostly of obscure publications. 

And in what appears to be a last-ditch effort to repopulate the site, it offers a new "Publisher Program" advertised at the top of the page where (if a magazine agrees to upload its content) they will track a magazine's stats while promising exclusive rights and control of the content and revenue sharing opportunities.

Publishers Reach Quiet Settlement with Mygazines [Folio]

by Chris Snyder for Wired.com

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