how to read Overdrive library ebooks on Kindle ?Ī). They are free downloads with an expiration date. I cannot get these books to read on my Kindle. Or vice versa.I have certain ePub books downloaded from the Public Library with DRM. So, if we go by court rulings with regard to music files, it's perfectly legal to strip your DRM to read your Nook books on a Kindle. epub to whatever you need read on a Kindle - without breaking the DRM. Now, the problem with ebooks is that you can't format shift - from. And if there is DRM on the CD, it's also legal to circumvent that in order to format shift.
With music, the American courts have ruled that it is perfectly legal to "format shift" your media - which basically means take it from one format (CDs) and then shift it to another (MP3) in order to listent to it on an MP3 player (or smart phone or whatever) instead of having to use a CD player. At no point do I have a beef with publishers or authors receiving their fair share it's only the others (B&N and Adobe) I don't trust.Īnd that, Kat, is the reason why many are questioning the illegality of stripping DRM from ebooks. That would necessitate converting the format of my entire e-library.
Plus now Adobe is playing hardball with their DRM, which annoys me to the point where I might switch to Kindle just because Adobe's move is so disrespectful to current device owners. Music is readable by different types of programs I don't want to lose access to my books if the platform I'm currently attached to goes under, which is fairly likely in the next couple years. Other than this then allowing me to replace the default cover art with the same one that the paper copy has, I also don't really trust the platform I bought into and I don't like the idea of this file only being readable by one store's reader. That's essentially why I began stripping the DRM from the ebooks I buy. People complain enough about the ones on games and too right they aren't clever, but can you imagine if games stores tried to prevent/make it difficult for you to play games that you got from a different store than the one you got the console in? Coz that's essentially how it manifests itself in my experience. Did I violate copyright law when I made these copies?Į-book DRMs are an absolute disgrace. These books are still in print and subject to copyright today. I made copies of the free books I was given.
I then connected my Nook to my PC and made another copy on there. I copied the three books from my email to my PC desktop. They emailed me digital copies of them - completely DRM free.
So a couple years ago, Nightshade Publishing did a giveaway and I was one of the recipients of three free ebooks - all relatively new releases. The result is different because when a copy is loaned the person loaning is not taking advantage of a property right they did not purchase. You've made a new copy and that is a violation of the author's retained right. Not so when you make a digital copy and give it to your friend. There is no violation of the author's retained right. That right is not sold to you when you buy the book. When an author sells you a copy of their work they retain the right to make new copies. Rights to property are not unitary or automatically universally alienable. Thus you can see why people curse DRMs and strip them without any pangs of conscience.īuy a used paper book, read it lend it out to friends and acquaintances, and become a scofflaw while skipping all the intervening steps.
These download directly to my MP3 device as long as it is connected to the library computer, and I listen to 100% of them immediately, about three minutes after selecting the book.
About 40% of the time the ebook actually becomes available to read, and this after a long lead time of fooling about with this file and that application and this authorization.Ĭontrast that with the same library system that lends DRM-free MP3 files for audiobooks.
Then I must sideload it to the Nook, where about 10% of the time the authorization code fails to work, and about 50% of the time the Nook indicates that the library ebook has already been returned. The public library system only loans me a DRM file, which I must use to download open the actual ebook using an Adobe application authorized to my computer. In a purely practical sense, however, I find that DRMs create such an enormous hassle that the digital media that DRMs purport to protect become unusable.įor instance, my daughter wants to read a particular library ebook on her Nook. In other Districts with less influence, it might go the other way. In District 9 and possibly 2, you would find that the federal judge would have the Disney worldview that all intellectual property is sacrosanct to the owner of the copyright. It depends where you would try such a case.