I guess it had to happen sometime - book disappears from BoB online bookshelf

[FizzyWater]

I don't know if this really belongs in this forum, but it seemed important to share.

One of the "pluses" for ebooks, as far as I was concerned, was that the books were always available on my online "bookshelf" for re-download if something happened to my computer, or I upgraded credit card (for my eReader books) or change PIDs (for my Mobipocket books). It's made me rather complacent about my backups, I will admit.

Today, I went to redownload a book I bought a year ago at Books on Board. It wasn't on my bookshelf. I look back at my records...yep, bought it at BoB.

So I checked my "receipts" section and see:

1. This title is no longer available for purchase/download.

Holy crap! The link is gone. When I searched for the book in the BoB catalog, the book is gone.

And that made me wonder - I had recently re-read Fictionwise's Terms of Service - when did that site start saying they would "make every effort" to make a book available on your bookshelf for at least 3 months after you purchase it, but couldn't make any promises??

So now I'm thinking of redownloading everything, to a removable drive, just to make sure I still have a backup...maybe.

[daffy4u]

I back up my Kindle on weekly basis at least. I have multiple copies of everything.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

So now I'm thinking of redownloading everything, to a removable drive, just to make sure I still have a backup...maybe.

I would certainly always make a personal backup of books that I've bought. If you read the "small print", I think you'll find that no eBook store promises to keep your books "indefinitely".

[Dylrob]

Ouch. What is even the point of making an ebook go "out of print"? It's like the publishers are forcing the electronic world to adhere to arcane standards that only make sense in print.

[bbusybookworm]

I usually tend to go a step further, and STrip the DRM and convert a copy into HTML for Archival use.

This is important to me as I tend to change my reading devices pretty regularly, and if the Store no longer offered me the option of entering a new PID (in case of Mobi) or Credit Card (eReader) I would be stuck.

So Having a DRM free copy backed up in multiple places is my Safety Net

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would certainly always make a personal backup of books that I've bought. If you read the "small print", I think you'll find that no eBook store promises to keep your books "indefinitely".

True, but with DRM protected content, it is impictely expected that you will be able to get your books on new devices.

If the store no longer offered the books for download, then how would you authorise your new devices, and de authorise your old ones.

Mobi is a prime example, with you needing to manage the PID's.

eReader is not so bad that as long as you have your old credit card number, you can still access your books, even if there are no authencation servers.

[pdurrant]

It will happen when the rights to the book revert to the author.

This allows the author to find another publisher, or re-negotiate with the existing publisher.

Originally Posted by Dylrob

Ouch. What is even the point of making an ebook go "out of print"? It's like the publishers are forcing the electronic world to adhere to arcane standards that only make sense in print.

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It will happen when the rights to the book revert to the author.

This allows the author to find another publisher, or re-negotiate with the existing publisher.

In that case, perhaps the conventional relationship between writer and publisher will ultimately find itself ill suited for this new digital age.

[Dr. Drib]

Titles go out of print.
Titles revert to authors.
Copyrights are renewed.
Copyrights go out of print.
Legalities are enforced

Whether it be paper or electronic, laws undergo change and we're in a period of flux, growth, change.

Witness "Autumn."
Higher prices, lower prices.
Availability. Unavailability.

The industry is growing, expanding, collapsing here and there. Back up all your purchases, and back up in multiple formats when available.

Don

[carandol]

Don't panic! This has happened to me with BoB a couple of times. Apparently one of the sites they link through to (I think it's the Mobipocket site) has a tendency to update their database without telling BoB, and all the links disappear until they're updated. If you write to BoB and tell them what's missing, they should be able to reinstate the books in your bookshelf.

But stripping off the DRM and making your own backup does seem like a sensible Plan B for future use.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by bbusybookworm

True, but with DRM protected content, it is impictely expected that you will be able to get your books on new devices.

If the store no longer offered the books for download, then how would you authorise your new devices, and de authorise your old ones.

I agree. I am very surprised that the contracts allow for the book not to be available in the future. So even if you trust that the company will survive for 5 years it impossible to buy an ebook now and be sure that you can read it in 5 years time on your then current device.

[TallMomof2]

I had it happen to me once at Fictionwise and the ebook was no longer available anywhere. IIRC, I'd purchased the ebook just a couple of months earlier. The great people there refunded my money.

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by tompe

I agree. I am very surprised that the contracts allow for the book not to be available in the future. So even if you trust that the company will survive for 5 years it impossible to buy an ebook now and be sure that you can read it in 5 years time on your then current device.

See Amazon e-books and how they are not available now; the ones before the Kindle that is - the Kindles ones are still available for now, until Bezos decides to do something else of course.

DRM-ed ebooks are disposables - unless you can convert to drm-free - and you kid yourself if you believe differently.

[Alfy]

I really don't see it's a problem that companies don't garantee downloads after a certain time. You buy the book, you download it, and then it's your responsability to keep a copy somewhere (and I agree, a DRM-free copy is what you REALLY need). It really seems fair enough to me!

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

See Amazon e-books and how they are not available now; the ones before the Kindle that is - the Kindles ones are still available for now, until Bezos decides to do something else of course.

DRM-ed ebooks are disposables - unless you can convert to drm-free - and you kid yourself if you believe differently.

Well, I do not buy DRM books since I do not read books directly but can wait 5 year to read a book I have bought. But people here have argued that big companies like Mobipocket will not stop selling Ebooks so in this case we still have the problem with books disappearing.

It is to much trouble to convert a book do a drm free book so I use other alternatives...