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Old 05-18-2009, 12:03 AM   #47
Elsi
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Texas, USA
Device: Kindle; Sony PRS 505; Blackberry 8700C
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boston View Post
...and unlike pbooks, ebooks cannot be shared (unless on the same Amazon account).

I used to pass along all of my pbooks. Now if I recommend a book to someone, they have to go buy it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kris777 View Post
Agree. If you for example have 10 friends you can give your paper book to all of them and 10 people will read the same book (your friends can give you their books too) but if you purchased DRMed book you can't give it to anybody. No problem like this if you buy DRM free ebooks from websites like Fictionwise.com
Not true. The Copyright notice at Fictionwise says:
Quote:
Copyright Notice

You may download eBooks that you have bought for your personal use, but may not distribute them to other people using email, floppy, or any other method. You may not print copies and distribute those copies to other persons. Doing any of these things is a violation of international copyright law and would subject you to possible fines or imprisonment. It also deprives authors of their fair royalties. We charge reasonable prices for our eBooks; please do not steal from us and our authors.
So, it is clear that all electronic books, whether with DRM or without, are restricted to the original purchaser. What you get with DRM-free books is the ability to move them from one device to another. DRM-laden books are restricted to a single device. You can sometimes de-authorize a device and download the e-Book again for a new/replacement device, but there's a risk if the original seller of the e-Book is no longer around.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kazbates View Post
Just out of curiosity and because I really don't want to look up the answer, is it copyright infringement to lend someone a paperback book?
Nope. No infringement at all in the USA. The first-sale doctrine says that the copyright holder's rights to control the change of ownership of a particular copy end once that copy is sold, as long as no additional copies are made. So, when you buy a paperback book, you own a unique copy of the work and you may dispose of that copy any way you choose -- sell it, lend it, give it away, or even destroy it. I don't know if copyright is interpreted the same way in other countries.
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