LONG-term planning

[Uncle Robin]

Hunting my Kobo Store's pre-orders for the upcoming Iona Whishaw (all tbooks in the series so far are currently available on Kobo, the next is only being advertised on Kindle), I wasn't sure what date order to sort by. When I selected "Newest to Oldest", the top listing seems a bit too early for me to pre-order just yet.

[JSWolf]

Is this book written by George R.R. Martin?

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is this book written by George R.R. Martin?

Nah, there'd be an extra "0" between the "2" and the "3" in that case.

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Nah, there'd be an extra "0" between the "2" and the "3" in that case.

Maybe someone can convince him to use jasper.ai to support his writing

[ownedbycats]

Do you think you'll even remember you pre-ordered it by the time it comes out?

[Quoth]

Will the seller or yourself still exist?

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Will the seller or yourself still exist?

I considered a similar question, albeit focused on the only one of those two entities I have an abiding personal interest in.

[DNSB]

I can see this line in a will:

And to my nephew Keith, I leave my pre-order of .....

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I considered a similar question, albeit focused on the only one of those two entities I have an abiding personal interest in.

Go ahead and order it. The author clearly needs the monetary inducement to keep writing.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I can see this line in a will:

And to my nephew Keith, I leave my pre-order of .....

I am now curious as to whether that would be legally binding.

[lensmann]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I am now curious as to whether that would be legally binding.

No, it wouldn't, unfortunately. Kobo's terms say that you get a personal licence to use the digital content you pay for. You don't own it, and you're prohibited from transferring it.

The Kobo Service sells licenses to literary works (“Digital Content”) to end user customers that have created a Kobo account (“you” or “Customer”) only. All Digital Content on the Kobo Service is the exclusive property of the publisher or its licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. The download of, and access to Digital Content is available only to Customers and is intended only for your personal and non-commercial use. Any other use of Digital Content downloaded or accessed from the Kobo Service is strictly prohibited. You may not modify, transmit, publish, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the content of any Digital Content, in whole or in part. By downloading or otherwise accessing Digital Content from the Kobo Service, you hereby acknowledge and agree to these terms.

From: https://www.kobo.com/termsofsales

[Quoth]

Often T&C by sellers contravene local laws. When that's the case either the clause or entire supposed contract is invalid.

The publisher or author owns the copyright. There have been court cases regarding purchase of software that was later transferred (no copies kept) and sellers/publishers have lost. An book purchase or music purchase in digital format ought not to have less rights for a consumer than the physical copy. Of course some Governments are in the pockets of big Corporations.

In reality, if you don't give copies to someone else (a civil or criminal offence everywhere for anything copyright), then if you bought it they'd have to sue your heir if they inherited legally purchased digital format material to stop them consuming it. Likely they'd lose and why would they waste the money suing in the first place?

Such T&C are probably only valid for library/subscription/streaming, not per item purchases.

[lensmann]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The publisher or author owns the copyright. There have been court cases regarding purchase of software that was later transferred (no copies kept) and sellers/publishers have lost. An book purchase or music purchase in digital format ought not to have less rights for a consumer than the physical copy.

I don't disagree that that ought to be the law, but as things stand that's not the law - at least, not in the EU. Although the CJEU in Usedsoft did indeed hold as you say for software, it subsequently held in 2019 that ebooks are different, and rightsholders can restrict the right of resale. The difference is pretty technical, but in essence the court held that the sale of ebooks falls within the right of communication rather than the right of distribution, to which the principle of exhaustion doesn't apply. See Case C-263/18 Nederlands Uitgeversverbond v Tom Kabinet)

[Quoth]

I didn't suggest reselling ebooks. The context was passing them on in a will.
Reselling any digital content is a minefield.