Amazon removed books from my Kindle

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by odamizu

Well, an argument could be made that users shouldn't violate the Kindle Store Terms of Use by stripping DRM, diddling with Kindle ebooks, and sideloading diddled Kindle ebooks with a fake cdetype EBOK tag.

Amazon cheats the users because when an eBook is supposed to come without DRM, they add DRM to KFX eBooks. For example, Tor has removed DRM. But with KFX, Amazon has added DRM back.

So I don't see an issue removing DRM. Also, when Tor first went DRM free, the first eBook was Redshirts by John Scalzi. Botj Scalzi and Tor said it was OK to remove the DRM. Scalzi even posted a link to the DeDRM plugin.

So why is Amazon going against the wishes of the publisher and/or author?

If Amazon can ignore the fact that some eBooks should be DRM free, we can ignore anything Amazon says about not removing DRM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Why do you think they are necessarily Kindle store books? They may be public domain or otherwise DRM-free ebooks converted to AZW3 with Calibre.

It doesn't even have to be PD. It could just be an ePub you bought from Kobo and want to read it on a Kindle.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

The contents of the device memory is the property of Amazon which rents its free space to you under the license agreement you've signed when you activated the device. There is no obligation from Amazon to provide you that free space to use for file storage forever. It can modify its property as it sees fit.

Originally Posted by Sirtel

You're claiming that Amazon owns all the ebooks it sells. That's not true. In most cases Amazon just sells the books published by others, like any other bookseller. Are you claiming that bookstores own the content of all the books in their store?

The way I read it, he is claiming that amazon owns the kindle itself.

I doubt that would hold up in any jurisdiction.

[Sarmat89]

Originally Posted by Quoth

they don't own those.

They own the files that they distribute; they lend them to you, and by that, sub-lend you the right to access them from the copyright holder.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

They own the files that they distribute; they lend them to you, and by that, sub-lend you the right to access them from the copyright holder.

No, they don't own the files they distribute. The publisher and the author own those.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

The contents of the device memory is the property of Amazon which rents its free space to you under the license agreement you've signed when you activated the device. There is no obligation from Amazon to provide you that free space to use for file storage forever. It can modify its property as it sees fit.

Truly a strange view of ownership.

The Kindle ereader is a physical device and when you purchase it, you own it. It is no longer Amazon's property, it belongs to the purchaser whom can do what they want with it. Amazon has exactly zero rights in any sideloaded content that is not licensed from Amazon.

Perhaps you should re-register a Kindle ereader and pay attention to anything that you need to agree to.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

They own the files that they distribute; they lend them to you, and by that, sub-lend you the right to access them from the copyright holder.

The publisher/author/whomever is the copyright holder have the rights to the contents of the file. Without their permission, Amazon would be the same as any other copyright infringing pirate site.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

They own the files that they distribute; they lend them to you, and by that, sub-lend you the right to access them from the copyright holder.

No, they only lend KU borrowed files. They do not own the the content of files or the files. Read up on how copyright works. The copyright holder is giving Amazon the right to sell a copy (and reimburse them a percentage). Subscription (KU / Libraries) is different, but you are not buying a copy.

Same with paper. You own the physical paper and ink, but not the actual content. So you can't give away or sell any kind of copy or facsimile, OCR or whatever of a copyright work, but no-one has the right to delete, remove or destroy your personal copy you bought.

Your transferred rights by purchase are personal consumption of it and can't legally be terminated. If you break copyright by distributing copies (free or paid) that's different and you can be sued for any perceived losses.

The difference between an ebook and a paper book, is that a paper book can easily be transferred before copyright expires.

Copyright does expire.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

The contents of the device memory is the property of Amazon which rents its free space to you under the license agreement you've signed...

That has got to be one of the more daft statements I've ever read.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by odamizu

By "matching EBOK" I mean a file identical to a version supplied by Amazon

I find it hard to believe that Amazon would track every single book ever delivered to every Kindle.

Amazon's DRM algorithms have changed and books can change but remain the same ASIN (you get notified that a book has been updated). Because of this, a book on a Kindle is unique from that book on all other Kindles, but also every delivery of that book to the same Kindle might have changed something.

This would mean keeping track of hundreds of millions (billions) of unique "download IDs" solely for the purpose of "helpfully cleaning up" the Kindle database.

No, I suspect it's merely a "our database doesn't say that the ASIN is supposed to be on that Kindle, so we'll nuke it". There is likely no check about the "validity" of the book. I suspect that if you did a "download and transfer via USB" the book would remain even if you had done some editing.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

They may be public domain or otherwise DRM-free ebooks converted to AZW3 with Calibre.

They could even have been converted using nothing but Amazon-supplied tools (Kindle Previewer).

It's hard to justify deleting content from a Kindle when that content was placed on the Kindle in an Amazon-approved way (USB connection) and created using Amazon-supplied software.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

No, I suspect it's merely a "our database doesn't say that the ASIN is supposed to be on that Kindle, so we'll nuke it". There is likely no check about the "validity" of the book. I suspect that if you did a "download and transfer via USB" the book would remain even if you had done some editing.

No, D&T via USB content has been "nuked". Obviously the Amazon Kindle system is a bit broken. Collections can be messed up too. That's why I think the "solution" is to ONLY use D&T (and don't buy a Kindle that doesn't support it) and never use WiFi, Sync or "Send to Kindle", except with a Kindle App only used for Amazon, or if your Kindle eink is ONLY used for KU / loans with no purchased ebooks or sideloaded content.

It looks like Amazon thinks the Kindle is a terminal.

[Sarmat89]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The copyright holder is giving Amazon the right to sell a copy (and reimburse them a percentage).

They give them the right to create a derivative work, i.e. a digital file representing the original work, which, as such, is protected by a separate copyright. You buy a license to access the Amazon's copy, and not the original work.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

They give them the right to create a derivative work, i.e. a digital file representing the original work, which, as such, is protected by a separate copyright. You buy a license to access the Amazon's copy, and not the original work.

That doesn't give Amazon the right to mess with the files on anyone's personal device (which, by the way, aren't rented in any way - they're sold, plain and simple) without the owner's consent.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

They give them the right to create a derivative work, i.e. a digital file representing the original work, which, as such, is protected by a separate copyright. You buy a license to access the Amazon's copy, and not the original work.

Perhaps you should consult a lawyer? The only copyright on the body of say, J. D. Robb's latest book whether a pbook or an ebook belongs to Nora Roberts. Amazon's ebook version is not an original work and does not qualify for copyright protection. As for your claim that it is a derivative work, all the sources on this that I looked at had wording such as:

In order to receive copyright protection, a derivative work must add a sufficient amount of change to the original work.

The copyright for the derivative work only covers the additions or changes to the original work, not the original itself.

So please let us know what changes Amazon makes to the original work to qualify them for a derivative copyright. And please note that while computer source code can be copyrighted depending on how much creativity can be claimed, computer/binary code has had a very poor record of success when copyright protection has been claimed.