Transferring books

daizyduke · 09-30-2023, 11:32 PM

No idea if this exists….is there a way to transfer, give away or sell these digital books? With an actual book we can do any of these. I’m guessing it’s not a thing or bezos wouldn’t be so rich.

Sirtel · 10-01-2023, 12:29 AM

Not legally.

JSWolf · 10-01-2023, 05:03 AM

The way the publishers see it, they cannot be certain you have not retained any copies of the eBook if you were able to transfer it to someone else's account. When you give or loan a pBook, you no longer have a copy.

Quoth · 10-01-2023, 05:06 AM

Only by transfer of the account(s) and ereader. Or wait till copyright expires.

MSWallack · 10-02-2023, 10:22 AM

It's actually an interesting question that I don't think has been fully tested through the courts. Many people (most?) don't even understand that when they "purchase" an ebook, they're only purchasing a license to read the ebook rather than the purchase they make of a physical book in a bookshop. This might turn into an interesting argument regarding whether the "license" is in fact a contract of adhesion that can't be enforced or for which the enforcement might be limited. Further, sales tax is almost always being applied even though in some instances, the limited or revocable license may not, in fact, be appropriately included within a sales tax regime. So it would be very interesting to see how courts would handle the question of whether rights in and to an ebook could be transferred and whether the license would be enforceable or treated as a sale. The distinction between the electronic model and the physical model of "book" would be fun for a court to work through. But companies like Amazon can pay really good lawyers a lot of money.

Sirtel · 10-02-2023, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSWallack

It's actually an interesting question that I don't think has been fully tested through the courts. Many people (most?) don't even understand that when they "purchase" an ebook, they're only purchasing a license to read the ebook rather than the purchase they make of a physical book in a bookshop. This might turn into an interesting argument regarding whether the "license" is in fact a contract of adhesion that can't be enforced or for which the enforcement might be limited. Further, sales tax is almost always being applied even though in some instances, the limited or revocable license may not, in fact, be appropriately included within a sales tax regime. So it would be very interesting to see how courts would handle the question of whether rights in and to an ebook could be transferred and whether the license would be enforceable or treated as a sale. The distinction between the electronic model and the physical model of "book" would be fun for a court to work through. But companies like Amazon can pay really good lawyers a lot of money.

And of course courts in one country can decide very differently from courts in another country.

Anyway, for me this is all irrelevant, because no one in my family is interested in my ebooks (or any ebooks, for that matter). If they were, I'd just leave them a hard drive with my deDRMed books; I couldn't care less about the legality of it.

Quoth · 10-02-2023, 02:30 PM

Even with a paper book it's a licence. You can't legally make copies and distribute them (free or paid), even though that's now easy to do.

The physical copy and the licence consume are tied, so if you part with the paper book you parted with the licence too.

It has been tested to do with software, and where the SW is tied to a physical dongle it can be resold with the dongle. Also software that doesn't work without a direct licence key or dongle can be freely copied, because it has zero functionality. Such security doesn't exist with ebooks.

So logically you can pass on an ebook if you also pass on the physical ereader if the ebook only works on that particular reader (dongle).

09-30-2023, 11:32 PM	#1
daizyduke Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kindle	Transferring books No idea if this exists….is there a way to transfer, give away or sell these digital books? With an actual book we can do any of these. I’m guessing it’s not a thing or bezos wouldn’t be so rich.

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10-01-2023, 12:29 AM	#2
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,081 Karma: 237627567 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	Not legally.

10-01-2023, 05:03 AM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 78,948 Karma: 144284074 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The way the publishers see it, they cannot be certain you have not retained any copies of the eBook if you were able to transfer it to someone else's account. When you give or loan a pBook, you no longer have a copy.

10-01-2023, 05:06 AM	#4
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,651 Karma: 103503445 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Only by transfer of the account(s) and ereader. Or wait till copyright expires.

10-02-2023, 10:22 AM	#5
MSWallack Right, Except When Wrong Posts: 362 Karma: 4323767 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Indianapolis Device: Kindle Oasis 3 (sometimes iPad Mini).	It's actually an interesting question that I don't think has been fully tested through the courts. Many people (most?) don't even understand that when they "purchase" an ebook, they're only purchasing a license to read the ebook rather than the purchase they make of a physical book in a bookshop. This might turn into an interesting argument regarding whether the "license" is in fact a contract of adhesion that can't be enforced or for which the enforcement might be limited. Further, sales tax is almost always being applied even though in some instances, the limited or revocable license may not, in fact, be appropriately included within a sales tax regime. So it would be very interesting to see how courts would handle the question of whether rights in and to an ebook could be transferred and whether the license would be enforceable or treated as a sale. The distinction between the electronic model and the physical model of "book" would be fun for a court to work through. But companies like Amazon can pay really good lawyers a lot of money.

10-02-2023, 02:30 PM	#7
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,651 Karma: 103503445 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Even with a paper book it's a licence. You can't legally make copies and distribute them (free or paid), even though that's now easy to do. The physical copy and the licence consume are tied, so if you part with the paper book you parted with the licence too. It has been tested to do with software, and where the SW is tied to a physical dongle it can be resold with the dongle. Also software that doesn't work without a direct licence key or dongle can be freely copied, because it has zero functionality. Such security doesn't exist with ebooks. So logically you can pass on an ebook if you also pass on the physical ereader if the ebook only works on that particular reader (dongle).

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