Ok, so I can be a tab bit behind the times with current news and political views. I’ll be the first to admit this. So, please don’t laugh at me as you read on.
I just found out that the 210 ebooks I’ve bought since owning a Kindle are not really mine. I do not own them!
How did I come by this realization?
Well, it sure wasn’t from the user agreement I did not read before I clicked “accept” all those years ago.
No, it was this story that finally clued me in, “You Don’t Own Your Own Kindle Books” written by Joel Johnson from NBCNews. The article was posted on October 24, 2012 so it’s safe to say I’m late learning about this but really I’m even more so because apparently it clearly states in Amazon’s user agreement that when purchasing an ebook you are not buying it but leasing it long term.
Even overlooking the fact that I should really start reading those user agreements, I should have realized something was up when I found out I can’t just lend whatever ebook I have to just anyone.
It makes me sick to my stomach and ticked off that I’ve spent $15 and more on books that I don’t actually own. I just assumed that when I clicked “BUY Now with 1 Click” I was buying and therefore owning that digital copy. Silly me!!
Can you imagine one day not being able to access your ebook library on any device because Amazon has suspended your account for reason’s they don’t feel the need to share?! Don’t pretend like that will never happened because it did to the woman mentioned in the article, Linn Jordet Nygaard, and who knows how many others.
Now, I can sort of understand why you can’t “own” it because it’s much easier to make replicas of a digital copy that it is of a physical book therefore this cuts down on book piracy but the moment I read that article I immediately felt cheated and can’t imagine myself ever purchasing another pricey ebook again. Why waste the money when I could just spend a few extra dollars more and own the actual book that can’t be taken back!
The worst part about all of this is that it’s opened my eyes. We aren’t just talking about ebooks but anything bought in digital form (books, music, apps, computer programs, movies etc…)
I am a huge ebook fan. Matter of fact I’ve only bought 1 physical book this year! I love the convenience of not having to lug around a bag full of books whenever I go on a trip. Plus, with an ebook there’s the added bonus of no one seeing the erotic images strewn over the front cover while you are reading out in public. There’s no way I can see myself pulling out a racy romance book with half naked people groping each other when there is a kid somewhere near by.Therefore, I don’t think I could give up my ebooks all together BUT I’ll be damned if I shell out a ton of money for a digital file again.
Maybe in the long run this will help bookstores from going extinct lol
In a negative way this could also scale back the self published ebook movement we are currently in and well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve stumbled across some really great authors that chose to self publish and I would have never known about them if they hadn’t been able to self publish in an ebook format.
Here’s an idea: Why don’t books take a page from DVD’s. When we purchase a physical copy of the book there can be a code inside that when entered online will give us access to a digital copy of it. So therefore we can have our ebooks while still owning the actual book. Sounds like a win/win situation to me!
Did you realize you didn’t actually own your ebooks or any digital file bought over the internet?
Have you already heard and read about this article? Did it change how many ebooks you bought afterwards or how much you were willing to pay for one?
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