Amazon Kindle Giveth and Taketh Away
By now you’ve probably heard about how the Amazon Kindle erased some e-Books that were legitimately purchased. One of those was George Orwell’s “1984.” I don’t think I have to explain how that just oozes irony. Amazon apologized–a truly class act.
Today, the Consumerist ran a story on how they can’t quite get a straight answer about Kindle licensing. Licensing for a book, you say? Well, yes. Remember, with DRM things aren’t always what they seem.
You see, when you buy the eBook, you’re not really buying the book. I know, it seems like you paid for it, so it’s yours. But, according to Amazon, you really only have a license to read the eBook. It’s as if there’s some sort of special privilege they are granting you to feast your eyes on the author’s creation. Think of it as a long-term rental, which may expire at any given time.
They limit how much text you can clip from the book. US Copyright law allows you to use portions of copyrighted work without the author’s permission under certain circumstances. How much you can use very much depends on context. The courts have looked at individual cases in the past and applied certain sniff tests to determine if the use was fair. But if you buy an eBook, the author calls the shots. What you end up with is a situation where you don’t need their permission to sample the work, but where the digital locks, to which only they hold the key, effectively keep you from exercising that right.
Finally, as the Consumerist article points out, not much of this is that clear up-front. You may not actually find out about the restrictions until you run into them. By that time it’s too late.
eBook readers are convenient–there’s no doubt about that. But as I’ve said before, realize that this convenience comes at a price. That price is the loss of freedom. Think about that.
What would you then argue you “own” if you buy the paper version? You still are bound by some copyright laws as to the re-use of that book. The difference is that you can pass that single book on to another user who can read it and pass it along.
For me, there are reference sources that I need on my bookshelf (DNS and Bind) for example, but do I need to retain the rights to pass on a story that I have already thoroughly enjoyed? As I strive to make my life a simpler one, I have made a conscious effort to get rid of the objects in my life that need not to take up space. Books that I have already enjoyed and can share with another were the first to go, but if I just had them in eform I could keep them forever… Wait! That is just e-clutter and has only transformed my problem, not solved it. I guess I will have to give up reading, that is the only logical answer I can come to ;)
If I own a physical copy then I own a copy of a copyrighted work. I don’t have the right to make numerous other copies and pass them around, but US copyright law is pretty clear that after the first sale the copyright owner doesn’t have any further rights to *that* copy. I can sell it, lend it or wallpaper my house with it.
I can also take excerpts from it, at my own discretion and use them for critique and other fair-use purposes. The copyright holder doesn’t get to decide what and how much of the work I get to reproduce. They can sue me, but I get to use fair use as a defense. And if a judge agrees that my use if fair then tough cookies for them.
I think digital books are very compelling, especially when remembering back to the high school days carrying around 50lbs of books in my back pack. But we have to do it in such a way that we don’t trample on established rights.
I fear that the younger generation will just take the word of the copyright holders and not know that they don’t need their permission for fair use activities. Because there will be no other choice with eBooks, and because they don’t want to carry around 50lbs of books, they will blindly give up those rights contractually through EULAs.
We’re moving to what is basically a rental model for books, where the book can be take back or even modified at will of the publisher. It’s Orwellian in nature and downright scary. Who will write our history and how can we be sure it doesn’t evolve as political establishments change?