ozoneocean
Wowio are completely different. They're an e-book publisher for mainly comic type stuff. With DD they're just expanding their digital media business portfolio… Their strategy with DD is to take an existing, successful comic hosting community and grow it by investing in it so that it becomes a more viable media outlet as one of the Wowio family of sites.
DD offers a related service to wowio (online comics) and so could be good for more cross promotional stuff with other Wowio products in future- Maybe DD artists will be able to easily sell Wowio e-book versions of their comics (has been very profitable for authors in the past), there's the popgalaxy TV thing, etc.
DD for Wowio is more of a long term investment though: it's a strong sort of thing on its own, but it's not a viable money making or even self supporting thing. With Wowio money coming in to fix and grow the site they'll first make it self sustaining. Later on It can work more profitably with their other sites etc…
I've no access to the Wowio business plan- but I know their objectives are more along those lines than IP speculation, which is far more prickly and fraught.
Thanks for clearing up that Platinum bit, Oz.
As to Wowios's plans… I hope it doesn't end up like an Etsy sort of thing. With the e-book publications, I mean. Most creative people on Etsy make very little on that site, I understand. It's the sellers, the businesses that sell supplies to the artists, that turn a profit. It seems suppliers are always profiting from artists… the guy who buys wholesale beads and sells them at a premium to the gal making hand-made jewelery… that sort of thing. Kablam makes a lot of scratch off of folks wanting to print their comics, but the creators usually wind up in the hole. Wrong? Maybe not, but d*mn frustrating.
I can see Wowio maybe going Kablam, possibly, and putting out DD member e-books in a similar type of deal… i.e., member pays Wowio to put out e-book, perhaps at some special rate, or some such thing, then sells it on one of the sister sites (probably having to cut Wowio in for a share of the take). Might seem cool to some folks, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The only fair publishing deal I see is one in which the publisher approaches the writer/artist, pays them a fair premium, plus royalties and a percentage on any merchandising for their work, then rolls out the product and sells it, so-to-speak.
I know this is all speculation, and I'm not calling down Wowio, I just don't care for the kind of waters artists have to navigate. We always seem to be on the wrong end of the cash flow these days.