I have found numerous pirated ebooks for free online. Please tell me the benefits of

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by hildea

To be not-quite-pedantic: That depends on the local laws. If terms and conditions violate local laws, laws take precedence.

Norwegian law is extremely unclear. It's illegal to circumvent "effective" DRM measures, unless it's done to be able to use a legally aquired work on what's commonly considered relevant equipment. So noone really knows if DRM for books is "effective" or so trivial that the law doesn't apply, and noone knows if it's a common opinion that you should be able to read epub books on a Kindle or Amazon books on a non-Kindle.

(Law in Norwegian: https://lovdata.no/lov/2018-06-15-40/§99 )

Oh, "shrinkwrap" and "click-wrap" licenses, which what TOS are, have been found to be unenforceable in some cases in the US. And enforceable in others.

Seems to be case by case basis. In the US, where fair use is a valid affirmative defense there has been no push to clarify those matters. In other locations without a general fair use doctrine specific laws are required.

Murkiness has its uses.

[Heqian_Yanqiu]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Thank you for the clarification. I'm always worried about being thrown off the site if I join in a discussion of this type. Harry once ticked me off for casually mentioning that I was reading a Wodehouse novel which had been a freebie. I'd downloaded it from MR before the rules were changed and I genuinely thought it was in the UK public domain, not having researched the date of Wodehouse's death. Since then, I avoid the subject.

I just wanted to point out to the OP that Amazon often charge for public domain ebooks.

Actually, a very good portion is available on Amazon for free, though these are often rather 'hidden'. In fact Amazon has a series called AmazonClassics which are classics for free, made by Amazon (so wordswise and etc. work perfectly). The selection is limited, however.

Also, it is not Amazon charging but the publisher/author. The publisher/author chooses the price and Amazon gets a cut out of each sale

[Heqian_Yanqiu]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

From a purely self-interested point of view, buying the Kindle version of a book gives me:

- Immediate downloadability on any of my kindle apps and devices
- An automatic download to my main kindle
- The book stays on my account, so essentially free cloud storage
- Updates, if the book is revised

I guess, generally, convenience. I very rarely bother to switch on my PC these days, so don't really want too many books managed by Calibre, and too much having to update via USB, or whatever.

Further to that, a purchase:

- Supports the author, encouraging the production of further books and updates
- Supports the publisher, encouraging the production of further books and updates
- Supports Amazon, encouraging them to continue producing kindles and improving the store
- Does not support crooks and/or parasites on download sites (Who is running these sites? Are they getting ad revenue? Why should they benefit from creative work they didn't do?)
- Shares the load with other purchasers. (When you pirate a book, you are basically freeloading on the backs of the people who pay. The people who pay are the reason the book exists. Why should they subsidise you?)

That's mainly why I would choose to buy a book rather than pirate it. If I feel I don't want to pay the asking price, then I don't read it. Legitimately free books are a different question, of course.

Amazon provides an email for your kindle, you can just send the .mobi file to the address and it will be sent to your kindle. This is do-able on some phones too.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by darryl

I would add to the enumeration of the benefits of buying a Kindle book syncing reading position both across devices and with an Audible Audiobook, and of course on some books a very attractive price on also purchasing the Audiobook. Sometimes as little as $1.99.

Completely independent of the topic of this thread: I love the cheap audible "add on" to ebooks. And it is kinda cool to read or listen to a book..back and forth...as desired.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by leebase

Completely independent of the topic of this thread: I love the cheap audible "add on" to ebooks. And it is kinda cool to read or listen to a book..back and forth...as desired.

I've bought a number of cheap audiobooks this way, but I can't say I've ever tried reading along, or go back and forth. It's just never really appealed to me.

[darryl]

I do sometimes switch between reading and listening. Sometimes its nice to set the sleep timer to 30 minutes or an hour and go to sleep listening to the Audiobook, then resume reading the next morning over coffee!

[Apache]

I prefer to listen to one book and read a different one. Right now I am listening to March Up Country by Ringo and Weber. I am just finishing up Combat Ineffective by William Peter Grasso. Since I purchased an Audible Membership that gives me 4 free books I am planning to get the other three Empire of Man books and listen to them.
Apache

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by Apache

I prefer to listen to one book and read a different one. Right now I am listening to March Up Country by Ringo and Weber. I am just finishing up Combat Ineffective by William Peter Grasso. Since I purchased an Audible Membership that gives me 4 free books I am planning to get the other three Empire of Man books and listen to them.
Apache

When I first read this I thought you meant that you listen to one book and read another simultaneously. You don't, do you?

[Apache]

Originally Posted by BookCat

When I first read this I thought you meant that you listen to one book and listen to another simultaneously. You don't, do you?

I am not that coordinated.
When reading I am oblivious to anything around me. I would not even know the audiobook was playing.
Apache

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by Apache

I am not that coordinated.
When reading I am oblivious to anything around me. I would not even know the audiobook was playing.
Apache

It's good to know that you're human.

I made and error in my post; I meant listen to one book while reading another. I've corrected it.
Silly me!

[Apache]

It is an easy mistake to make considering the way I wrote it makes it sound like I did them together.
Apache

[vikarti]

Originally Posted by Divinejames

I'm absolutely all for that, but could anyone please explain other benefits to purchasing the Kindle version vs using a free or pirated version other than the obvious legality/moral issues?

- Whispersync work better and on all devices (including Kindle4PC/Kindle4Mac/Web reader).
- Book doesn't count in 5 Gb Amazon's 'Personal Documents' limit.
- You can (usually) buy audible version and use 2 versions together for 'Immersive reading'(Kindle app for Android/iOS will highlight sentences as it reads)
- Audible versions of Kindle books you bought are sometimes much cheaper.
- Kindle/Goodreads integration works much better for books you bought in Kindle Store so you can change reading status, update progress, review right on device.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by vikarti

- Kindle/Goodreads integration works much better for books you bought in Kindle Store so you can change reading status, update progress, review right on device.

How does it work better? I buy my books from Amazon, but don't read on a Kindle, so I'm not aware.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Divinejames

but could anyone please explain other benefits to purchasing the Kindle version vs using a free or pirated version other than the obvious legality/moral issues?

Not having to waste a lot of time imagining new piracy-justification excuses that no one else was really going to buy anyway.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Not having to waste a lot of time imagining new piracy-justification excuses that no one else was really going to buy anyway.

I don't think most people pirating material worry about justification of it. They just do it.