Community Suggestion: Prevent downloading of Rich Media MP3s on Manuscript chapters
Prevent downloading of Rich Media MP3s on Manuscript chapters
What functionality is missing? What is unsatisfying with the current situation?
When adding an MP3 file as a rich media to a manuscript chapter, the default HTML5 audio element has the option to let a user download the file and listen to it offline. I offer downloadable files of my narrated stories to supporters, so this would allow a curious reader to subvert that and get a story for free.
How does this feature request address the current situation?
Preventing downloads is as simple as adding this tag to the enclosing <audio> element:
controlsList="nodownload"
An option could be provided during chapter creation and setup that would add or omit this tag as the author wished.
An example of the tag in action can be seen at the version of the story I have posted on my own site, at the first audio element:
https://dispatch.zmthomas.com/p/the-dragonfruit-express
What are other uses for this feature request?
This would help authors and creators who want to protect their content and only allow streaming/online listening, or who want to offer higher-quality audio for download. Thank you!
Follow up
Thank you so much!
The Team's Response
Thanks for the suggestion! This got very small support but it's a very small change too, so we'll do it. Note that even when we turn this on, the file can still be downloaded; any media file on the public internet can be downloaded if you try hard enough (in this case, looking at the website's source code might be enough). But we can disable the obvious option to do so.4/300 Votes · +1100 points
Votes Cast
-
+100
by JoellaKay
on 2026-02-06 20:32 -
+100
by AuraGuard
on 2026-01-31 23:06 -
+300
by Those2Nerds
on 2026-01-31 15:46 -
+300
by StillnessandSilence
on 2026-01-31 03:55 -
+300
by zmthomas
on 2026-01-30 19:22
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