Audiobooks purchased from Audible are fine to keep and listen after suspending an account, although they have DRM protection. DRM (Digital Rights Management) is a topic I covered in great detail back in To DRM or not to DRM? That is the question for today’s digital content producers. Whether authors like it or not, Audible adds DRM to its audiobooks. This is a policy that differs from the sister-company Amazon KDP, where we authors have the choice to include or exclude DRM from ebooks, at the author’s discretion. Whether your intention is to cite a soundbite in your audio podcast (under fair use) or migrate the entire audiobook to your classic iPod (stand by for my upcoming article iPod renaissance in 2024), unless you purchase(d) the audiobook from a source like Libro.fm (where all audiobooks are proudly DRM-free and your funds indirectly support independent bookstores), you’ll need to remove the DRM from the audiobook file before proceeding with your goal. That’s why I am reviewing Libation, a free and open source app for Linux, macOS and Windows. Libation is compatible with audiobooks purchased from Audible accounts from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

How Libation legally removes DRM

Even though many people immediately imagine that an app like Libation must use inappropriate means to remove the DRM, that is not the case at all. In fact, the Libation app actually does a «joint venture» with the Audible website, since you must log into your account via Libation for it to work. After logging into your Audible account, Libation shows your entire library of purchased audiobooks and gives you options to download them without DRM. (If you read my Audiobook distribution strategy in 2024 + why M4B is ideal for direct sales, you know why .M4B is nearly always the most desired option for audiobooks, not MP3 or M4A.)

To clarify: LIbation removes the DRM for legal purposes as indicated in the first paragraph, not for the purpose of piracy.

My testing of Libation

My testing of Libation so far has been on macOS. Despite some reviewers (of prior versions of Libation for macOS), in my case, where I installed it on a Mac Mini running macOS 14.6.1, I had no need to run any terminal command to allow it to work. However, as of the publication date of this article, the developer still includes the terminal command as an option «just in case» in the documentation, in case it doesn’t run immediately, as it fortunately did for me.

My first test so far was one of the most demanding audiobooks I have ever encountered so far, with a duration of 24:21:00, meaning 24 hours and 21 minutes. Libation worked perfectly and deposited the DRM-free version with M4B extension in my desired folder.

I requested «lossless» even though Libation must mean «without any further loss», i.e. «unadulterated». Thankfully, it arrived with an .M4B extension containing all of the metadata and cover art.

For information, visit GetLibation.com.

Lee este artículo en buen castellano

Reseña: Libation, para eliminar la protección DRM de los archivos Audible legalmente

Related articles and links

• Audiobook distribution strategy in 2024 + why M4B is ideal for direct sales
• To DRM or not to DRM? That is the question for today’s digital content producers

• Apple Books app: inconsistent among formats & platforms

• Review: Audiobook Builder, an ideal authoring tool for audiobooks for direct distribution
• Escuchalibros.com
• Libro.fm

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None of the companies listed in this article is paying for this article. Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur, BeyondPodcasting, CapicúaFM or TuSaludSecreta programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own. Allan Tépper is not liable for misuse or misunderstanding of information he shares.