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Does not sound legal to me. But I would love something like this. A more sound business model would be to have the option of subscribing to an electronic only version of a magazine. They do this now in academic journals so I don't see why it wouldn't work for magazines. I admit I do like to curl up in my bed with a magazine or read them on planes but it would be a good experiment to do.

This sounds exactly like uploading music files and sharing them. I imagine the magazine companies concerned will have something to say about it...

undoubtedly copyright infringement.

Publishers can upload their magazines, not readers. This is the same thing as Zinio or Texterity.

http://www.mygazines.com/tour/upload_magazines

Whatever, people...

This site is awesome! You can turn the pages and read through like you have the magazine in your hands. And everything is perfectly clear and legible....and you have this great varirety to choose from.

I already love it!
(for as long as it lasts)

thanks for posting about this!

my sister called me about it (neither of us are affiliated with the site, btw) i was just excited about the ability to read the international design mags i can never find- or are too $$$, and that this will cut down on my magazine waste, so i thought you guys would appreciate it too.

it will be interesting too see how long it lasts though- because of the legality issues.

Sorry but I am not giving up my subscriptions. I travel a lot and am often outdoors (beach, back yard, etc) which are not condusive to using a computer. Further more, magzines give me a lovely break from looking at a computer. When I am done, I pass them on to friends and family and ask them to do the same.

This idea is genius but I suspect it will be the subject of some litigation. Digital magazine download and archiving is a great idea - I use the publisher approved Zinio as a digital backup for my hardcopy subscriptions. It has allowed me to eliminate the dreaded and pricey magazine caddy from my life, freeing up a great deal of space as I hate to throw my magazines away. Now I can recycle them and keep a digital backup for reference.

Unfortunately, a great number of popular magazines are slow to join the digital party and the resulting vacuum allows for sites like Mygazine to pop up. Magazines are repeating the mistakes made by the music industry by sticking their head in the sand rather than turning digital into a revenue generating proposition.

Look for lawsuits galore before the magazine publishers realize the obvious: publishing, like music, has changed forever.

farmhousemoderne I don't see where it says only a publisher can upload magazines...Unless I am missing something.

I have a few electronic magazine subs that I pay for through Zinio. I can't see the magazine publishers putting their magazines on there for free like that, what exactly would the advantage be?

I think it's copyright infringement as well.

When they make a iPhone friendly version I'll be in heaven.

This is the language on that page that is clearly speaking to publishers:

Why should I upload my publication to mygazines.com?
* Our article-level search and archiving ability allows your audience to find the content they're looking for faster
* Increase your distribution and advertising revenue by exposing your publication to more eyes
* Keep control of your publication: Mygazines will not allow for downloading or printing of your publication. Your original source file is never accessible.
* Save the trees - no paper will be used in the making of your virtual publication
* It's absolutely free!

Also, this from the Terms of Use:

6. CONTENT SUBMITTED OR MADE AVAILABLE FOR INCLUSION ON THE SERVICE

By uploading, submitting or otherwise disclosing or distributing Content for display or inclusion on the Site, you represent and warrant that either:

* you purchased the Content,
* you created the Content,
* you own the rights to the Content, and/or
* the Content is freely distributed by its Creator
###

(Purchasing a copy of the magazine is not purchasing the content in publishing terms, though that could be interpreted loosely.) The reason a publisher would use this instead of Zinio or Texterity is that it's free. Increase distribution, thus increase ad revenue. Maybe. I'm in the magazine business, and I would not use this. Readers who pay for content are far more valuable to advertisers than readers who get it for free.

FYI, Texterity magazines are already available for iPhone, and some of them are free.

I also use Zinio for legal digital subscriptions. They are pretty cheap for most magazines (some as low as 50 cents and issue). Given how many people are married to their cell phones, iPods, and laptops, I can't see any reason not to go digital.

For those who say "whatever" about copyright infringement, I hope you encounter a time when you don't get paid for your work and can just shrug your shoulders and say, "whatever."

I don't think they really care if it isn't being uploaded by the publisher though. I looked at a few magazines just to see the quality and it looked like it was scanned by someone (pages partially sideways). I think it's like Youtube for magazines.

I think if they really cared only publishers would be able to upload and they'd have measures to make sure it was only publishers doing it.

Just visited. Gone! Zero content. I think that answers any legal questions.

laspic - better get to lasik

don't know what you're seeing but I'm seeing nothing but magazines galore! I love this site. If anything the magazine industry should be gleaming that someone is coming to their rescue

Yeah. I just went there and it worked for me. And it's lovely!!

while I like the idea there is something different about holding the magazines in your own hands that I would enjoy more. I'm the same way with iTunes -I only purchase cds on there that I know I can't find in stores and then I get sad because I can't hold the liner notes. I always make sure to recycle my old magazines but I know whenever I have tried to read ebooks or comic books online my eyes start to hurt and I give up and go to the library instead.

Hmm. If the legal issues were worked out, I might consider using this site to flip through back issues. However, there's just something so pleasing about holding a magazine in your hands and flipping through pages... because of that, I would never give up my magazine subscriptions to go exclusively digital. I'm a good girl and recycle my magazines after I've read them and cut out the things that interest me- that's got to count for something, right??