eBook "ownership"

[deferredreward]

What's the general feeling on ebook ownership - like if you have a public domain book on your e-reader, would you, for instance, mark that you own it on Goodreads? I'm just curious, trying to get my head around owning ebooks. Certainly, if I paid for a newer book I'd consider that I "owned" it, but downloading a public domain book feels much less like ownership.

[susan_cassidy]

I don't see a difference. Either you have a copy of the ebook, or you don't. You actually have more ownership of a non-DRM public domain book than a DRM one, licensed only for one reader or app.

[Anthem]

As you seem to be interested in my opinion (heaven knows why! Scratch that and amend "Not even heaven knows why!") I would say that possessing a copy of an electronic text on a reading device or a memory stick/card or on a computer hard disk counts as retaining a true copy.

Books residing in the Public Domain (where ownership is a Public matter) and books to which you hold a license concerning the content (therein) are counted as "Owned" in my book.

Now, if only the eISBNs would work a bit more often when I use them to find books on Library Thing, etc.

[JP36]

I 'feel' if I can read it whenever I want I 'own' it, but in Goodreads I've only marked books 'owned' that I currently have physical possession of.
For Goodreads I think it makes more sense to do it like that with the swap feature, and while I'm new to GR, I didn't see anything about virtual lending ala the Nook and now Kindle.

[Worldwalker]

If you buy a public domain pbook from Barnes & Noble, you own it, right? If someone gives you a public domain pbook you own that too, right? So why don't you own it if you download it from MobileRead?

[RW2112]

I "own" the media on which the "book" resides, but "ownership" belongs to the copyright holder. From public domain books then "ownership" resides with the public who I am a member of.

[Worldwalker]

I don't believe he was asking for the publishers' opinions on ebook content ownership. If you read his original post, he was wondering if a public domain book counted the same as a copyrighted book in terms of listing it as a book he owns on Goodreads.

[wvcherrybomb]

If it's on my hardware, I own it and it goes on Goodreads.

In my opinion, Goodreads is less about ownership and more about discussion and reviewing. Putting up all your books helps people to see your interests more clearly.

[Fastolfe]

My criterion is very simple: if I paid for it, I own it. Also, I'm entitled to do what I want with it, apart from helping someone else own it without paying for it as well.

The reason why I won't accept any other definition of ownership of goods is this: when I paid for the good, I gave money, which represents time I spent at work. So in effect, I gave a slice of my lifespan in exchange for a good. Since my life isn't on loan, licensed, or owned by somebody else, whatever I acquire with it isn't either.

[FF2]

Originally Posted by Fastolfe

My criterion is very simple: if I paid for it, I own it. Also, I'm entitled to do what I want with it, apart from helping someone else own it without paying for it as well.

The reason why I won't accept any other definition of ownership of goods is this: when I paid for the good, I gave money, which represents time I spent at work. So in effect, I gave a slice of my lifespan in exchange for a good. Since my life isn't on loan, licensed, or owned by somebody else, whatever I acquire with it isn't either.

Well, what happens when you actually RENT/lease something? You paid for it but only for a limited duration. Same LIFE earned it with a chunk of time. I think the "sellers" of ebooks are trying to equate the money you paid as a limited duration lease - for the period you own the appropriate reader-device or app. Not saying I agree but that appears to be THEIR definition of the transaction.

[screwballl]

I paid money (or legitimately received the item), even if it is computer code, it is mine to do how and what I want with it within my own possession. I paid money for the ebook, copyright fair use exemptions allow me to do what I want within my own possession provided I never sell, lease or let the said item leave my possession. So if I choose to remove DRM, transfer to another device I own, copyright fair use laws allow me to do this. The DMCA may not, but that is where there is a conflict within existing laws, one law says yes, another law says no.

Modern DRM is the equivalent of my purchasing a paper book that has a legal warning at the beginning of the book stating: "The first and original purchaser of this book is required to be the only and sole owner of this book. This book either in part or as a whole may not be copied, transferred, sold, or released to any party aside from the original owner. When the original owner no longer has a need and wishes to stop ownership, it must be discarded, shredded, or otherwise destroyed physcially." Which legally goes against the very copyright fair use exemption.

The Supreme Court ruled that private non-commercial copying was Fair Use. I use this basis for my allowance to do what I want with items and material I purchased or acquired legally.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by deferredreward

What's the general feeling on ebook ownership - like if you have a public domain book on your e-reader, would you, for instance, mark that you own it on Goodreads?

Depends on why you're keeping a list in the first place. I use Library Thing, and while I don't put in fanfic, I list the others because I don't want to gather duplicates.

For fanfic, there's just too darn much of it I've collected over the years and I have other way to make sure I don't have duplicates there. But Public Domain books, Freebies, Purchased books... they're all books I 'own', and want to keep track of, so on the list they go.

[Elfwreck]

IMHO, if you downloaded it, you own it. If you read it online, you don't own it. However, whether you want to mark that on Goodreads depends on why you're marking some books owned and not others... if you're hoping to potentially receive the not-owned ones as gifts, you might not list digital titles. If you are noting which books you could flip through to look up a passage, you'd list it as owned.

[The Terminator]

Does it really matter. It goes both ways if you get a free book at a book bin would you say you owned it. But definitely for the eBooks purchased Hope this helped