You are not the owner of Amazon Ebooks

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

New data point for me! People who don't use 'semantics' properly apparently also don't use 'beating a dead horse' properly.

If you think the ON-TOPIC RESPONSES IN A CURRENT, ACTIVE THREAD are a dead horse, why on earth are you reading and posting here?

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by ApK

YOU know exactly what you are doing, and you are doing all the right things, but because you choose to claim that you are doing your license "the same way everyone currently can treat physical books", you are MISLEADING many in your audience.

[...]

You are NOT making ebooks work "the same way everyone currently can treat physical books" as you know very well. What you are doing is giving users some additional rights over the ebook content. So I beg, you, please say it that way.

Here's the current draft of the license text, and I'm certainly open to suggestions:

You may transfer this ebook to another person just as you would a physical book or another physical item: by giving one copy to the new owner and destroying any and all other copies you may have made. Doing so transfers all of your ownership rights to the recipient as the new owner, exactly as it would if you had purchased this book in the form of ink on paper. The author explicitly retains all of the rights granted under established copyright laws. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not given to you under the provision above, please visit your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy there. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Here's the current draft of the license text, and I'm certainly open to suggestions:

At a glance, I would absolutely cut it as below (as I bet you could have predicted by now!).

You may transfer this ebook to another person by giving one copy to the new owner and destroying any and all other copies you may have made. Doing so transfers all of your rights to the recipient.
The author explicitly retains all of the rights granted under established copyright laws. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not given to you under the provision above, please visit your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy there. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

See what I did there?
Those words I cut....if you think people won't understand your intent unless you use them....save them for your marketing materials, keep them out of the actual license terms!

BTW, in case it was lost in the arguments, I really like what you're trying to do!

ApK

[ApK]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Sadly, the BPHs argued TTS is performance and put restrictions on Kindle TTS.

It's things like that that reinforce to me that Apprentice Alf is wholly moral and correct.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by ApK

Those words I cut....if you think people won't understand your intent unless you use them....save them for your marketing materials, keep them out of the actual license terms!

The thing is, I want people to think of ebooks as Real Things, and to intuitively connect the digital content with the analog content they're used to. There's not a massive piracy problem with pbooks, but there is a sense of ownership that comes with those that people don't get with ebooks. I like that sense of ownership; it reinforces that you have bought a thing and, within the bounds of copyright, can do as you please with it. Loan it to a friend, leave it to an heir, sell it to a stranger - this copy is yours.

The biggest complication that I haven't figured a way to handle is, of course, cloud ownership records. If someone buys a book with this license on certain platforms, they may be unable to "disown" it, and they certainly can't transfer ownership. In that respect, they would be unable to fulfill the terms of the license (deleting all their copies), but through no fault of their own. That's one reason I want to take a closer look at O'Reilly's language...but then, they have their own store.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

That's one reason I want to take a closer look at O'Reilly's language...but then, they have their own store.

They do, but they also sell elsewhere, eg: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-PH...dp/B00BCQ5Q96/

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by ApK

We are of one mind on the matter.


They may have a bit less risk in offering the terms they do than other publishers might, but even NYT best sellers get sent to the bargain rack after a few months.

That's the old publishing model. Per Kristine Kathryn Rusch
http://kriswrites.com
and others an author can plan for a steady sale of ebooks for many years.

Compare digital recordings of classical music (to include the Beatles) I suppose.

Of course Eric Flint and Baen have been offering ebooks free while seeing mmpb sales continue steady for ten years and more. And now leather-bound new editions.

That era is perhaps going but offering the first one two or three in a series free or cheap still works.

[THBangash]

Well, though it may have been said before, I'll say it again.

When a consumer buys an ebook or any other product consisting of "Artistic Expression" in any form or format, they ONLY Buy the Right to have a copy for personal entertainment, meaning the right to enjoy the item. the Item itself Remains the Property of the Creator (in books, the Author). Plain and simple.
Now comes the right to transfer it from device to device ... that is entirely up to the consumer, as long as it remains "FOR OWN USAGE" only ... meaning it is NOT transfered over to any 2nd individual ...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

That era is perhaps going but offering the first one two or three in a series free or cheap still works.

One model I've seen used with long series is escalator pricing:

First one, perma-free or $0.99
Second, $1.99
Third, $2.99
Fourth, $3.99
Fifth and beyond, $4.99

Anybody sticking with a series beyond four volumes is a fan.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Anybody sticking with a series beyond four volumes is a fan.

Or in some cases a masochist.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

The thing is, I want people to think of ebooks as Real Things, and to intuitively connect the digital content with the analog content they're used to. There's not a massive piracy problem with pbooks, but there is a sense of ownership that comes with those that people don't get with ebooks. I like that sense of ownership; it reinforces that you have bought a thing and, within the bounds of copyright, can do as you please with it. Loan it to a friend, leave it to an heir, sell it to a stranger - this copy is yours.

I like that sense of physical ownership, too, but don't we give that up when instead of paying for a copy, we choose to supply our own physical media and then pay someone to communicate instructions to it? That arrangement includes limited use of those instructions but does not include the right to communicate them to someone else.