Amazon to allow downloads of DRM free books

[jhowell]

From Digital Rights Management on Amazon KDP:

Effective January 20, 2026, verified purchasers can download the EPUB and PDF files of your confirmed DRM-free books.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a technology you can apply when publishing your eBook that affects how readers can access their purchased content.
…
Applying DRM limits reader access to Kindle apps and devices only. DRM technology is designed to limit unauthorized access to or copying of digital content files.

Choosing not to apply DRM (DRM-free) gives readers additional flexibility to enjoy their purchased content across a wider range of devices and applications by providing downloadable EPUB and PDF files. Your royalty rates and payment structure remain unchanged regardless of your DRM selection.
…
Reader download access

Effective January 20, 2026, readers can download EPUB and PDF files of your DRM-free books from their Manage Your Content and Devices page on Amazon. Only verified purchasers who have bought your book can access the EPUB/PDF files. Customers who borrowed your books through Kindle Unlimited or other services can't download the EPUB/PDF files, even if the books are DRM-free.

If readers downloaded EPUB/PDF files when your book was DRM-free, they will retain access to those downloaded EPUB/PDF files even if you later apply DRM. However, the option to download EPUB/PDF files will not be available after your DRM setting change is live (approx. 24-72 hours after you publish).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jhowell

From Digital Rights Management on Amazon KDP:

Why would Amazon allow downloads of DRM free eBooks to be in ePub?

[j.p.s]

So unless or until Big N publishers have the same option KDP customers and their readers will have at least one advantage over Big N publishers and their readers.

I'm confident they can have it if they want it.

I wonder if this is a way for amazon to dip their feet into EPUB distribution without losing face.

I also wonder whether amazon will degrade the quality of the EPUB illustrations or leave the EPUBs as submitted.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why would Amazon allow downloads of DRM free eBooks to be in ePub?

Because that is the format that all other e-book platforms use. (A surprisingly good thing coming from Amazon.)

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Because that is the format that all other e-book platforms use. (A surprisingly good thing coming from Amazon.)

It will be interesting to see what quality of formatting will be, considering that publisher is generally not submitting ePub or PDF directly, and Amazon will have to do it themselves. Maybe by using KFX Output plugin.

I have found PDF's available for ebooks from Google Play can be pretty mediocre, there are no ToC entries, links, page numbers etc. The ePub can be polluted with markup Google puts in (to switch between reflow and fixed I guess).

Am curious if we'll also see this download option show up for the likes Tor etc.

[jhowell]

I added some additional details to the first post of this thread.

The main things are that borrowed books cannot be downloaded and the publisher can choose to add or remove DRM, along with the ability to download, at any time. So if you purchase a downloadable book it would be best to download it asap.

[Smitmiller]

Yay, an easy way to see whether or not my books are supposed to be drm-free! I'll just have to make sure to download the EPUB version, since it doesn't sound like my prior AZW3 downloads would count toward retaining access to the drm-free version.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by tomsem

It will be interesting to see what quality of formatting will be, considering that publisher is generally not submitting ePub or PDF directly, and Amazon will have to do it themselves. Maybe by using KFX Output plugin.

Actually, Amazon's Kindle Create application has the ability to generate EPUBs from their proprietary KPF format for reflowable books. That conversion output is probably what Amazon will allow customers to download. (Personally I feel the my KFX Input plugin produces a much better EPUB than Amazon's software does, but I am of course biased.)

----

It is interesting that Amazon is taking this step now after their ongoing efforts at locking down Kindle DRM and removing the Download & Transfer feature from Kindle owners. They even apply DRM to books that the publisher has requested to be DRM free when delivered in KFX format.

My guess is that they have seen a noticeable drop in sales. Their attempts at forcing lock-in may have resulted in former customers obtaining their books elsewhere.

[DNSB]

I'm going to have to try this in January though it appears that authors already have this option to enable this feature.