Lending DRM'd books to a friend

[jusmee]

When I first read about ebooks and DRM - ages ago - I remember talk of lending a book to a friend, with a time limit. I have borrowed books from libraries this way of course, but how do I lend a book to a friend to read?

I can't find how to do this for epubs under ADE, and haven't noticed anything under the Kobo desktop either (although that would be less useful as epub is the more universally readable format - after all, not all my friends have a Kobo )

[Breid]

There is no facility on the Kobo to lend books to a friend. Apprentice Alf has been my friend in allowing me to set my books free, and I have emailed some to my sister and she is happily reading them on her Sony PRS 650

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by Breid

There is no facility on the Kobo to lend books to a friend. Apprentice Alf has been my friend in allowing me to set my books free, and I have emailed some to my sister and she is happily reading them on her Sony PRS 650

I understand. Doesn't have to be on the Kobo either. Actually, just a way to do it on the PC with ADE would have been nice, but I suspect it is a promised feature that never eventuated.

[feenix1363]

I remember it being touted as possible, but don't remember ANY companies announcing that they were going to do it. It's much easier and simpler to 'manage' your books yourself, from your PC with Apprentice Alf's help (Google him)

[Joe563]

Originally Posted by feenix1363

I remember it being touted as possible, but don't remember ANY companies announcing that they were going to do it. It's much easier and simpler to 'manage' your books yourself, from your PC with Apprentice Alf's help (Google him)

Barnes and Noble support lending with their Nook line of e-readers. Here is a link with the details: http://cp-barnesandnoble.kb.net/?sea...omeTab:crumb:1

[Haesslich]

Originally Posted by Joe563

Barnes and Noble support lending with their Nook line of e-readers. Here is a link with the details: http://cp-barnesandnoble.kb.net/?sea...omeTab:crumb:1

Only for the Barnes & Noble ePub version of Adobe ADEPT... and ONLY with publishers who flagged it as 'allowed', which not many did. Just like not a lot of Publishers let the Kindle do 'text-to-voice' reading with Kindle books... and which was a touted feature of pre-Paperwhite versions of the Kindle.

[jusmee]

Why don't they understand that we want ebooks to be the same as normal books. I can lend a book to a friend, why not an ebook?

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I'm assuming that that's a serious question so I'll give it a serious answer. A real book can't be easily reproduced and if you lend a copy to your friend then you are no longer in posession of said copy. But when you email an ebook copy to your friend there are suddenly two copies when there used to be one. If it was possible to instantly reproduce a physical copy then I'm sure the book people wouldnt want you to loan those either.
I suppose if you email your copy to your friend and then delete your copy and wait for them to email the book back and then delete their copy then I suppose it's ok.

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

I'm assuming that that's a serious question so I'll give it a serious answer. A real book can't be easily reproduced and if you lend a copy to your friend then you are no longer in posession of said copy. But when you email an ebook copy to your friend there are suddenly two copies when there used to be one. If it was possible to instantly reproduce a physical copy then I'm sure the book people wouldnt want you to loan those either.
I suppose if you email your copy to your friend and then delete your copy and wait for them to email the book back and then delete their copy then I suppose it's ok.

It seems as if you haven't experienced the way libraries loan out DRM'd books.

If I have purchased 1 licence for a book, when I loan it out, I have 0 licences - I cannot read the book while it is on load to the friend - but he can, as he has my 1 licence, for some predetermined period - say 14 days. When that time period expires, his ability to read the book ends, his licence to read becomes 0, and mine increments back to 1 licence, and I can read my book again - an exact analogy of a single book that only one person can possess and read at one time.

[nogle]

Originally Posted by jusmee

Why don't they understand that we want ebooks to be the same as normal books. I can lend a book to a friend, why not an ebook?

Why don't you understand that they are in the business of selling books and is intheir interest to sell more rather than fewer?

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by nogle

Why don't you understand that they are in the business of selling books and is intheir interest to sell more rather than fewer?

If I own something, I should be entitled to let a friend borrow it for a while. I can't believe anyone can reasonably argue against this.

[SeigneurAo]

Originally Posted by jusmee

If I own something, I should be entitled to let a friend borrow it for a while. I can't believe anyone can reasonably argue against this.

Well IIRC the problem is precisely that you never really own an ebook.
You buy a right to possess and read a copy, but the product is not yours entirely, to dispose of as you wish.
I may stand corrected but that's what I recall about digital material (same goes for digital music).

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by SeigneurAo

Well IIRC the problem is precisely that you never really own an ebook.
You buy a right to possess and read a copy, but the product is not yours entirely, to dispose of as you wish.
I may stand corrected but that's what I recall about digital material (same goes for digital music).

I'd be interested to know. I don't recall seeing any licence agreement, like for software programs etc.

[Haesslich]

Originally Posted by jusmee

I'd be interested to know. I don't recall seeing any licence agreement, like for software programs etc.

You get that when you agree to buy books with DRM. And publishers are cracking down on libraries (which is LEGAL lending), by either withholding ebooks from lending, or else are raising prices or reducing the duration of licenses before the library has to repurchase them.

What makes you think that publishers would mark it easy for you? They're trying to make you tell your friend to buy that book at $17-29.99. That's why they moved onto Agency pricing to begin with.

[SeigneurAo]

Okay so I have not been able to locate this in Kobo terms just yet, but here goes for Amazon and Kindle :

Upon your download of Kindle Content and payment of any applicable fees (including applicable taxes), the Content Provider grants you a non-exclusive right to view, use, and display such Kindle Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Kindle or a Reading Application or as otherwise permitted as part of the Service, solely on the number of Kindles or Supported Devices specified in the Kindle Store, and solely for your personal, non-commercial use. Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider. The Content Provider may include additional terms for use within its Kindle Content. Those terms will also apply, but this Agreement will govern in the event of a conflict. Some Kindle Content, such as Periodicals, may not be available to you through Reading Applications.

Source
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...deId=201014950
(Paragraph 1.1 Use of Kindle Content)

Mark the bold text. AFAIK this is the same for most ebooks sellers.