Mygazines RIP

Just wanted to note the passing of mygazines.com, the magazine uploading site that appeared to aspire to become the YouTube of magazines.  Turns out that legal woes and financial troubles got the best of the service, just a few months after opening its doors.

Too bad, because it was a great idea, despite its copyright problems.  I wish more publishers would catch on to the idea that many of us would prefer to read magazines electronically -- and might even pay a little to do so.   (Ask Zinio -- we really do!)

Below is the message now posted on the service's homepage.

Mygazines' slow erosion

Back in July, I came across Mygazines.com, a YouTube-like site where users could upload scans of magazines or articles for all to share. Although I was a little suspicious about the the excellent quality of the scans -- they had a very high-end look for random user uploads -- I was thrilled to find free copies of magazines I no longer buy in paper.

What's more, the anonymous Carribean-based company running off out-of-reach PirateBay-related servers seemed impenetrable to even the most aggressive publishers.

(Fun? Yes. Copyright infringement? Absolutely.)

Well, I'm betting that some publisher has broken through, because the site's inventory of mainstream magazines is dwindling fast. First went the Time-Life offerings, then the Hearsts, and so on.

I hope Mygazines finds a way to bring them back, even through a paid model. Many of the top mags are offering most, if not all, of their content for free these days, but except for a handful that publish on Zinio.com or Relay, it's hard to find "emags" of top titles.