Quote:
Originally Posted by Jellby
Note that in the online journals model I mentioned you don't have to "return" anything and all that may expire is your access to download new material, but whatever you have already downloaded won't stop working.
What if Fictionwise/Amazon/etc said that when you "buy" an ebook it is available in your account to download as many times as you wish, but for an unspecified time? They could say that access is guaranteed for 2 years, but beyond that you may have to "renew" the ebook (even if it's for a symbolic price or free, or the renewal could be automatic). The DRM in the files you download does not expire, but at some point the ebooks might not be available for download anymore. Would that count as "licensing"?
I feel that's the current model, although it's probably in the small type of the conditions.
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That's different. I don't think having the access expire, but keeping the content, would count as a license. Since you are keeping what you paid for, I think the US would count that as a sale, and you should have the ability to resell the item. In order for it to be considered a "license" by the court, I think the eBook itself would need to be sold as expiring.
The ability to re-download is a service that is offered, but separate from the sale of the eBook itself. Whether or not the service expires doesn't effect the ownership of the eBook.