Readium LCP

Globally available reading  systems

This section contains a list of e-ink devices and reading applications localized in different languages, globally available and which can side-load LCP licenses or LCP-protected ebooks.

Pocketbook e-ink readers and inkBOOK e-ink readers can sideload LCP-protected EPUB and PDF ebooks.

Thorium Reader is a free desktop reading app that is usable on Windows 10, Mac, and Linux. With this application, EDRLab first aims to offer a great EPUB 3 reading experience emphasising accessibility for print-disabled people. The support of the LCP DRM and OPDS catalogs makes it a great tool for library patrons. This application also supports PDFs, DAISY publications, audiobooks, and Divina comics. It is localized in many languages, and new locales are easily added.

Status of deployment in different parts of the world

This section takes a geographical approach and shows interactions between these organizations. A third section will focus on LCP technology providers.

In France

France was the first country to advance with LCP, especially for e-lending, which explains why many LCP-compliant servers and applications are on the market today.

Distribution: every French ebook distributor, i.e. Numilog, Eden Livres, Immatériel, Vivlio, and De Marque, now provides LCP-protected ebooks for their market.

e-lending: the national e-lending service called PNB (Prêt Numérique en Bibliothèque) provides ebooks to a large set of French public libraries and distributes the LCP-protected ebooks provided by different distributors. PNB explicitly recommends the use of LCP for EPUB and PDF titles and has developed a Readium-based mobile application (Baobab Reader) with automatic synchronisation of borrowed ebooks to push its usage. There is a plan to suppress the delivery of Adobe-protected ebooks by 2026. 

Two other e-lending solutions are LCP-compliant: La Médi@thèque numérique and BiblioAccess.

Retail:  ePagine (which also powers Place des Libraires, Bookeen, Gibert, Gallimard and other independent retail platforms) provides a large part of its catalogue of ebooks (including bande dessinée) as LCP-protected content. ePagine is in partnership with inkBOOK to distribute their LCP-compliant e-ink devices in France and Belgium, an offer that facilitates the adoption of digital reading by independent retailers and their clients.

Numilog has also deployed LCP on its library website, on GirlyBoox and on its white-label network. This involves a catalogue of 500.000 EPUB and PDF ebooks in French and English (press release).

Some publishers, like Editis, have started selling their production with an LCP protection on their website. 

Academic publishing: John Libbey Eurotext has adopted LCP for its academic publications. 

e-ink readers: The usage of LCP is eased by its support on several lines of e-ink readers sold in the country:

• Vivlio (which are Pocketbook devices with a custom firmware). Vivlio has also developed LCP-enabled mobile companion apps.
• Bookeen (Diva and Notéa, now bought by Vivlio)
• inkBOOK (via ePagine).

In Germany

Die Onleihe is the main e-lending solution in Germany. Since 2019, German titles have been protected via the LCP solution provided by Vivlio.  Library patrons can access these LCP-protected publications on their tolino e-readers. More than 25.000 LCP licences are generated each day.

tolino is the leading ebook retailer in Germany. The company has made tolino e-readers (now developed by Rakuten Kobo) LCP-compliant since 2019, and has added LCP to its bookselling service in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

In the UK

Glassboxx has adopted LCP (using the Readium LCP Server provided by EDRLab) for its direct-to-consumer platform and for the Ulverscroft platform developed for providing ebooks and audiobooks to public libraries in the UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the USA. Glassboxx has also developed white-labelled mobile apps for SFGateway, Reading House, Hope Books, Tyndale Books, Princeton University Press, Edinburgh Universtity Press, and many more worldwide.

Gardners Books is a large wholesaler and distributor of digital content with an eBook catalogue of 3.5 million titles. Since 2023, they provide LCP-protected digital content services to vendors in retail, lending, and academic channels worldwide.

In Italy

MLOL has deployed LCP on its e-lending platform and has developed LCP-compliant iOS, Android applications based on the Readium Toolkit,  and a desktop application based on a fork of Thorium Reader (see their blog post). LCP-protected ebooks are provided by Edigita, the Italian e-distributor powered by De Marque.

Casalini Libri, a leading supplier of publications and services to libraries and institutions worldwide, provides LCP-protected ebooks to their customers through its Torrossa platform. The company also provides to its users a mobile and desktop application based on Readium software.

In other parts of Western Europe

In Belgium, the e-lending platform Lirtuel offers LCP-protected ebooks and audiobooks to its patrons.

In Spain, Libranda and Xercode are distributing LCP-compliant solutions. The national eBiblio e-lending service and the globally available Spanish courses of the Instituto Cervantes have adopted LCP as their DRM of choice.

In Northern and Eastern Europe

Bokbasen (an early member of EDRLab) is the leading ebook distributor in Norway. Bokbasen was among the first companies to distribute LCP-protected ebooks and audiobooks to its customers. The company has also released the LCP-compliant Allbok mobile application based on the Readium Mobile toolkit. ebok.no is Norway’s top bookstore. It released in July 2020 the LCP-compliant EBOK.NO mobile application based on the Readium Mobile toolkit. Pubfront, a Norwegian aggregation, transcoding, and distribution platform, has also developed the coop story mobile application based on the same Readium Mobile toolkit.

Stockholm Public Library and Sambruk, from Sweden, have made their Bibblix mobile application LCP compliant. Bibblix is “an app for children between the ages of 6-12, whose purpose is to promote and inspire reading in a joyful manner, without any demands that they might else experience in a school environment, for instance”. Check our post here.

Axiell Media, a large Swedish solution provider for publishers, distributors, public libraries and schools, provides ebooks to multiple libraries and booksellers. The Axiell Media platform has now adopted the LCP DRM and the Readium Mobile toolkit for its own iOS and Android reading apps.

Ozone.bg, an online sales platform based in Bulgaria, launched in November 2021 its bookselling section and a complete ebook reader platform, using LCP as a DRM, accessible from Pocketbook e-readers and custom Readium-based mobile apps.

Voxa has launched in Romania a very elegant subscription-based platform offering ebooks and audiobooks, using LCP as a DRM, accessible from custom Readium-based mobile apps.

Beleven (Estonia) has launched a bookselling website in Ukraine offering ebooks protected by LCP and has developed mobile applications using Flutter + Readium.

Elibri (Poland) provides different services to publishers: a book database, watermark ebook files, and a clearance system for distributors and publishers. Elibri is building a book lending system for Ukrainian libraries and has selected LCP to protect its ebooks.

Several other deployments will soon be finalised in this part of Europe.

In Canada

De Marque (member of EDRLab) is distributing LCP-protected ebooks and audiobooks in (and from) many countries, including Canada, the USA, France, and Spain.

Aldiko Next is a free mobile app (iOS / Android). It is based on the Readium Mobile toolkit and was developed by De Marque. It supports EPUB, audiobooks, and PDF documents from any source (local folders and OPDS catalogs). It is available worldwide and supports a large set of languages.

Messageries-ADP is distributing LCP-protected ebooks in Canada.

Bibliopresto (member of EDRLab) operates pretnumerique.ca, the main e-lending platform in Canada. The ebooks and audiobooks this platform provides are protected by LCP and read via an LCP-compliant mobile app based on Readium Mobile, which De Marque developed.

Notion Wave Inc. (member of EDRLab), based in Ontario, Canada, provides LCP as part of its KNiTO authoring, publishing, sales, and reading solution.

In the USA

BiblioVault serves more than 90 scholarly presses in the USA and contains digital files for more than 40,000 books. LCP-protected ebooks have been distributed to all students since May 2021, with Thorium Reader as the recommended reading app on desktops.

The Palace Project, driven by Lyrasis and DPLA, has integrated LCP into its mobile apps and gives access to LCP-protected content hosted and served out by DeMarque. The next step will be to provide LCP protection for partner libraries.

The Internet Archive is lending LCP-protected ebooks in the USA, with Thorium Reader as the recommended reading app on desktops.

NetGalley provides digital review copies to its subscribers. LCP protects the ebooks offered for review by the main US publishers.

HarperCollins (member of EDRLab) has a multimedia subscription service called Harlequin Plus and developed a mobile app based on Readium Mobile for this offer. LCP protects ebooks and audiobooks.

Gantec Publishing Solutions is a US solution provider for publishers, schools and higher education. Its ebooks2go platform has adopted LCP and has developed LCP-compliant iOS and Android reading apps based on Readium Mobile.

The Theological Book Network, a provider of religious ebooks, has chosen LCP to protect its eTBN digital collection. They have developed a mobile application based on the Readium toolkit and a desktop application based on Thorium Reader.

Inspirata Publishing, a provider of Christian books in Chinese, has selected LCP to protect its ebooks. They have developed a mobile application based on the Readium toolkit and a desktop application based on Thorium Reader.

NABU, a tech-enabled publisher of multilingual children’s books, is using LCP to protect its ebooks. They have developed a mobile application based on the Readium toolkit.

Rally Reader provides an innovative AI-powered service in the USA that aims to improve children’s reading skills: its iOS app hears them read ebooks, identifies errors, and tracks accuracy word-by-word. LCP protects all ebooks.

In Latin America

The Brazilian National Book Program (PNLD) is adopting LCP to protect EPUB digital textbooks. 30 million students will receive access to such ebooks in the coming years. The RNP, i.e. the digital platform for education, research and innovation in Brazil, is developing the ebook distribution platform.

Fênix Tecnologias Educacionais, from Brazil, is both a publishing house and a technological company. It provides accessible ebooks for inclusive and quality education in Brazil and is developing a hybrid authoring and publishing platform (Timeline) and a learning and publishing platform (Educar.tech). It integrates and promotes the use of LCP in education.

In Africa

eKitabu is providing accessible digital content for inclusive and quality education in Rwanda and other African countries. eKitabu has developed a client/server solution which uses LCP for ebooks protection. This includes a Windows application based on Thorium Reader.

Nabu.org is providing free ebooks to children in Rwanda, Haiti and the Republic of Congo. Most of these ebooks are protected by LCP and the organization has developed LCP compliant iOS and Android mobile applications based on Readium Mobile for  easy access to this content.

In Asia

The Shanghai Library (member of EDRLab) is the second largest public library in China. Its new e-lending platform is now using LCP and it has developed apps based on Readium Mobile.

Different organizations in Singapore (Big Crunch Digital and SUSS) and the Philippines (REX Digital Publishing) have also deployed – or are finalizing – an LCP setup.

LCP Service Providers

These providers (ordered alphabetically) have developed software or services compliant with Readium LCP. You can contact them for speeding your delivery of LCP compliant services.

DITA (USA)

DITA can develop white-labeled LCP-compliant mobile applications based on Readium Mobile.

See as an example:  DITA Reader iOS, DITA Reader Android.

EditionGuard (USA)

EditionGuard is a US solution provider for publishers. The company offers a fulfillment service for EPUB and PDF files, and offers LCP protection.

ePagine (France)

ePagine offers technical solutions for distributors, publishers and booksellers in Europe (France and BeNeLux). Because they operate their own warehouse, they can offer a high-quality service to bookshop customers who want to buy digital. Customers who have purchased from a bookseller are guaranteed access to their purchase history. Customers can consult their book online (streaming) or download the title depending on the reading system, with an LCP or Adobe protection.

Glassboxx (UK)

Glassboxx (member of EDRLab) is a digital development agency that works to optimize the commercial success of publishers and retailers with eCommerce solutions, websites, and reader apps. They work with businesses all over the world and won the Stationers’ Innovation Excellence award in Service Development. Their team has much experience integrating LCP in distribution platforms and is happy to assist third parties.

noop (France)

The French based noop.fr company is a digital development agency specialised in audiovisual and publishing. Their team has experience in developing distribution platforms for movies and ebooks – both with DRM – and would be happy to help third parties.

Other Readium projects

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The major evolution of the Readium SDK codebase, the objectives being better performances and stability, clarity of source code and documentation.

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Readium SDK & JS

The reference EPUB 3 open-source reading engine for Web, desktop and mobile apps, on active maintenance by the Readium community.

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