Does your will include gifting your ebooks?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

So Harry would you specify in your Will what you wanted digitally to go to whom?

I find it a rather interesting question but then Wills and Will distribution are always interesting (and vexed and often litigious )

I think I'd personally wait for the legal issues to be resolved before considering the matter. To be honest, I can't really think of anyone who'd be interested in my ebook collection. Nobody I know personally is a keen reader.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by burnafterreading

AFAIK, when you buy an ebook you're not buying a product but rather a non-transferable license to use a product (see T&C that you "read and agreed to"). when you expire, so does your license. you can have the ereader device in your will, but not a license.

just like when you die, your kids can inherit your car, but not your driver's license. it's the exact same concept.

That's what the publishers would like you to believe. But it has not yet been tested in a court, and what similarish cases have come before courts have in general ruled that if it looks like a purchase, it's a purchase, and includes the right to re-sell or to give away.

[latepaul]

A will is a legal document so we can't ignore the law. I imagine adding an item in your will for something that isn't legally yours could create issues and possibly (speculating here) invalidate the whole thing. I wouldn't want to risk it unless I was sure I had the right to bequeath it.

Which isn't to say I wouldn't leave a letter with the will which contained a master password. Except I have no one to leave anything to anyway so it's a bit moot for me.

[burnafterreading]

more random thoughts at 5am

if you're stripping DRM (which is kinda illegal), you can't then look to a will (which is a legal document) to protect your butt and help you sort out who gets your ebooks (with illegally stripped DRM tags)

if i die, i hope i have accomplished more in my living life than just collecting a bunch of ebooks to pass on to someone. i'd rather leave behind some real estate or a company that employs other people. SOMETHING more useful than ebooks.

if someone is REALLY keen on a specific ebook and it somehow wasn't in my will, there are other alternative methods to acquiring said material

[Lynx-lynx]

@burnaftereading - no suggestion that ebooks are the only items being bequethed, rather this discussion, as per the OP, is about being clear about one's intentions re one's digital property.

[Lin2412]

LivesOn's motto is: "When your heart stops beating, you'll keep tweeting."

LOL. If it's with regards to who gets your ebooks when you die, I have no problem whatsoever, if it may be an issue of not having anyone to access the ebooks I've bought, it makes no profound difference. Most of my loved ones have purchased the same books I have, some of them (my father mostly) don't even like the genres I have on my library.

[burnafterreading]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

@burnaftereading - no suggestion that ebooks are the only items being bequethed, rather this discussion, as per the OP, is about being clear about one's intentions re one's digital property.

i don't see digital property as much (of a) property. my online social accounts can get wiped, and my ebooks/mp3/avi files can go wherever. the only things i'd be really concerned about (not just legally but also in terms of "so, what have i accomplished in my life?") would be REAL property, physical tangible things. a house, a boat, a company, a sword collection.

maybe it's just me, but i place as much value on digital property as i do on e-friends: they're always there to talk about babies or give thumbs-up on pics, but they never show up when i need to move a couch or bury a body

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by burnafterreading

i don't see digital property as much (of a) property.

I've spent well over £10,000 (US $15,000) on my eBook collection. To me, it's very definitely "real", even if it is digital! In fact, other than my house, it's my most valuable possession. Certainly worth more than my car.

BTW, I don't mean to be impolite, but your posts would be easier to read if you were to follow the usual convention of the English language, and start sentences with a capital letter.

[Apache]

Like Harry, the value of my digital Library is worth more than my car and I do not know anyone who would be interested in it.
Apache

[burnafterreading]

Originally Posted by HarryT

BTW, I don't mean to be impolite, but your posts would be easier to read if you were to follow the usual convention of the English language, and start sentences with a capital letter.

i used to do that, but found it far too pedantic. punctuation, on the other hand, and proper use of your/you're, its/it's, and the general knowledge of what 's is used for is a whole other matter.

plan B is "hey, English isn't my native language"

[theducks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not an issue for ebooks. They generally can't be passed on to another person.

I f copyright laws say I can't pass on e-versions...

How can Life+70 e-manuscripts be justified

They are both just bits-in-a-bucket

[Hampshire Nanny]

I share my Amazon account (and my Audible account) with my sister. At some point each of us will pass access to the account to one daughter each. I expect the one account to go on and on and on with all its digital content -- mostly books, but also purchased videos.

[mr ploppy]

If you mean ebooks you've bought a license to read, they can't be passed on to anyone, the license expires when you do. If you mean ebooks you've written yourself and still hold the rights to, those rights will go to your next of kin unless you specify you want them to go to someone else. If you gave those rights away they will stay with whoever owns them now, but your next of kin (or whoever) will still get any royalties due.

[Quexos]

Never thought of making a will, once I'm dead I don't care anymore what happens to my stuff. Besides over here wills are expensive to make, you must see a notary and well it's complicated.

[murg]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Of course you physically CAN pass them on, but this may well be against the terms of the contract you entered into with the bookstore. You need to read the bookstore's T&C's and see if it's permitted (or ask them).

The law in your country will override the T&Cs.