how to share ebooks i bought

[Reader9000]

Is there a way to get ebooks ive purchased off of kindle any kobo so I can share them?

[susan_cassidy]

Kindle and Kobo both use DRM, generally, and both use different formats. If you happen to have a book without DRM, you can convert it using Calibre or something similar, but you generally agree when you purchase ebooks not to share them. You'd have to strip the DRM, then convert formats.

Between husband and wife, or mother and child, etc. would be ok, generally, but you really shouldn't give ebooks that aren't public domain, or CCL to friends.

[Irish Lion]

One option is to have multiple devices registered to the same account, so you can have multiple people read the books you purchase. But in most cases, that's only a good idea if you're sharing with significant other, family, etc.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

Between husband and wife, or mother and child, etc. would be ok, generally, but you really shouldn't give ebooks that aren't public domain, or CCL to friends.

And who made you the ebook police? So are we paying per read? It makes a sort of sense, I suppose it will take some getting used to and will definitely increase the amount of piracy, but in the short term paying per read works.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Reader9000

Is there a way to get ebooks ive purchased off of kindle any kobo so I can share them?

What do you mean when you say "share"? Whom do you intend to share them with?

[carpetmojo]

If "share" means what I hope it does, I'll generally do so with all my family's device's - most of which are mine anyway, but all use all, if you see what I mean.
I use Calibre as my book-lined, leather-chaired family library, I suppose.
Not all titles are on all devices, tastes differ wildly in our household - my son usually turns down 90% of my "offers", for the 350 that now appears to be on permanent "loan". Distance means he usually buys/gets for himself anyway.

That's my personal definition, anyway, and am happy with it.
I draw my line in the sand at this close circle.

With K4PC on our 2 PCs the line is blurred, should acqaintances use them, but that can't be helped I suppose.....

[Noto.... For 'Confesion' read 'Confession'

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

And who made you the ebook police? So are we paying per read? It makes a sort of sense, I suppose it will take some getting used to and will definitely increase the amount of piracy, but in the short term paying per read works.

Sigh... He is not claiming to be the ebook police. He is pointing out information that someone who is relatively knew to issues of file sharing might not know. Kind of like telling a new driver from a foreign country that our speed limit signs (in the USA) are in MPH not KPH.

--
Bill

[jbcohen]

I will admit that I have a pal of mine that liked to share his ebooks with a common friend. The two of them had been sharing for many eyars before they found out about electronic books, which incidently solved a lot of problems with the transport of the books. What they did is to find a standard plaform, in their case it was a Kindle. They registered their kindles to the same account and they were happily sharing anything they bought. The key here is that they were not having to spend an arm and a leg in transportation costs between them, that was all done for free.

[hpjrt]

Just my thoughts here but I think publishers etc do themselves a disservice with their DRM and geographical restrictions.

If I purchase a hard cover or paperback book [and an ebook is generally the same price as one of these depending upon the pub date] ... it is mine and I'm free to lend or give it to whomever I choose. The same should hold true for ebooks. If I lend it to one person and then get it back, or give it outright to someone, that's no one's business ... and it's certainly not up to a publisher to tell me I can't.

If DRM means I'm "renting" a book ... then the cost of the document should be a whole lot cheaper.

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who chafes against being told what I can and can't do with something I've purchased.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by hpjrt

If I purchase a hard cover or paperback book [and an ebook is generally the same price as one of these depending upon the pub date] ... it is mine and I'm free to lend or give it to whomever I choose. The same should hold true for ebooks. If I lend it to one person and then get it back, or give it outright to someone, that's no one's business ... and it's certainly not up to a publisher to tell me I can't.

It's not the publisher who tells you that you can't - it's copyright law.

The fundamental difference between lending someone a paperback book and lending them an eBook is that, in the latter case, you are creating another copy of the book. Where there was one copy of the book, there are now two copies. Both you AND your friend have a copy. And the law says that you can't create that extra copy without the permission of the copyright holder. It has nothing to do with the publisher.

That's the difference, and that's why you can't do it.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

I use Calibre as my book-lined, leather-chaired family library, I suppose.
Not all titles are on all devices, tastes differ wildly in our household - my son usually turns down 90% of my "offers", for the 350 that now appears to be on permanent "loan". Distance means he usually buys/gets for himself anyway.

That's my personal definition, anyway, and am happy with it.
I draw my line in the sand at this close circle.'

Yep.. My roommate and best friend purchased a Fire at the end of December. Her Kindle is registered to my account and so along with anything on Amazon, my Calibre library is shared. She is not interested in about 90% of my stuff and what she is is interested in is mostly from Baen, so there's not even the issue of stripping DRM.

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's not the publisher who tells you that you can't - it's copyright law.

The fundamental difference between lending someone a paperback book and lending them an eBook is that, in the latter case, you are creating another copy of the book. Where there was one copy of the book, there are now two copies. Both you AND your friend have a copy. And the law says that you can't create that extra copy without the permission of the copyright holder. It has nothing to do with the publisher.

That's the difference, and that's why you can't do it.

Cory Doctorow (just to pick one example) has no problem with me giving copies of his ebooks to other people, and neither do his publishers. It's the authors/publishers who decide which aspects of copyright law they want to apply to their works.

Andrew

[ProfCrash]

I share my account with my Mother so we can share books. And I buy her books, she paid for college, I can pay for her reading material.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's not the publisher who tells you that you can't - it's copyright law.

The fundamental difference between lending someone a paperback book and lending them an eBook is that, in the latter case, you are creating another copy of the book. Where there was one copy of the book, there are now two copies. Both you AND your friend have a copy. And the law says that you can't create that extra copy without the permission of the copyright holder. It has nothing to do with the publisher.

Nonsense, just don't keep a copy for yourself.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Nonsense, just don't keep a copy for yourself.

But you can't help it, that's the trouble; it's not "nonsense". Many eBookstores do not provide a method for you to remove your purchases. You can't help but keep a copy.