Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great
All eBooks at Fictionwise.com are the exclusive property of the publisher or its licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. The download of these product(s) is intended for the Fictionwise Member's personal and noncommercial use. Any other use of eBooks downloaded from Fictionwise.com is strictly prohibited. Users may not modify, transmit, publish, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the content of these product(s), in whole or in part. By downloading Fictionwise eBooks, the User hereby acknowledges and agrees to these terms.
I'm too tired right now to parse this out. It should be clear what rights this agreement takes away.
After reading the license, the question that comes to my mind is:
How the f*** do they expect to enforce it?!?
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Why should they have to enforce it? The information about what you can and cannot do with the book is available to you before you buy - a request not to "share" books is in almost every "sidebar" of the site. If you feel that you are unable to comply with these conditions, then you shouldn't be buying books from that site.
The majority of books at Fictionwise are not DRM protected, and are reasonably priced - typically $5-7. That's much cheaper than the price of a typical paperback here in the UK, and at that price point, I think personally that Fictionwise are selling at a fair price and that one should honour the terms under which you're buying the book. I feel the same with other publishers who are selling at "sensible" prices, such as Baen.
Pretty much the only thing I can spot in the above terms and conditions which is not simply a restatement of copyright law is the prohibition on transfer and resale. All the rest is covered by copyright.