RE: Fw: Amazon's Ebook License A Scam, Says Doctorow

 
 
> To: [email protected]
> 
> 
> Amazon's Ebook License A Scam, Says Doctorow 
> Posted at 8:05AM Thursday 14 Jan 2010 
> Says Doctorow: When Amazon "sells" you a Kindle ebook, they don't really sell it to you. If you read the fine-print, you'll see that they're waving their hands furiously and declaring that you aren't "buying" the book, but rather "taking a license to a limited set of uses" for the book.
> http://www.booktrade.info/i.php/25177
> http://mhpbooks.com/mobylives/?p=11748
> http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/12/even-amazon-cant-kee.html
> 
> [I normally ignore Doctorow; though he has some useful things to say I find his take on copyright confused and distorted by assumptions of the effects of the digital.
> 
> Here he seems to be quite failing to appreciate what a digital file is. He uses the Bezos quote, instead of a good interpretation of law  (Jeff Bezos: "[W]hen someone buys a book, they are also buying the right to resell that book, to loan it out, or to even give it away if they want. Everyone understands this.").
> 
> Correct me if I am wrong, but it is within the power of the copyright holder to restrict onward use. So far as I understand it a copy, however purchased, is licenced from the copyright holder. And since the digital file and modern technology allows anyone in possession of a file to act as a publisher the assertion of copyright owner's and holder's rights means that it must be licenced and is not 'sold']
> 


Two different things are overlapping here - what Bezos is referring to is the physical book and yes - when you buy a book - you can resell it (used book stores), loan it out (libraries), give it away (Christmas, Birthday, whatever) - that it covered under property rights - when you purchase a physical item - you have the right to dispose of that property as you want.

What copyright does is protect intellectual property from being COPIED and distributed without the COPYright owners permission. Even though I owe a physical book, I do not have the right to copy it and distribute those copies without the COPYright owners permission.

Digital copies by virtue of the fact that if you send the file to someone else creates a new copy of that file - essentially you cannot treat them the same way because in order to sell a used ebook, loan an ebook (unless you loan the reader as well) or give the ebook to someone you have to generate a copy of the file and that violates copyright.

I haven't looked at the articles yet - just addressing the comments in the body of this email.

Don't Write What You Know; Write What You Care About -- Passionately!
 
Carol Hightshoe 
"Call of Chaos" - Book 1 of the Chaos Reigns Saga - Now Available - Double Dragon Publishing

"Chaos Embraced" - Book 2 of the Chaos Reigns Saga - Feb '09 - Double Dragon Publishing
 
Editor/Publisher - The Lorelei Signal / Sorcerous Signals / WolfSinger Publications

 		 	   		  

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