Legal News

Who Took My Book? E-Book Readers Kindle Debate Over Digital Rights

By Ashby Jones

Do we as consumers ever really own the digital stuff — books, music, etc. — that we think we’re buying?

It’s a provocative question explored in an article Thursday by the WSJ’s Geoffrey Fowler. The issue came up last week when Amazon.com reached into customers’ Kindle e-readers and deleted some e-books written — ironically — by George Orwell. Amazon, which returned the cost of the e-books, said it made the move when it realized that the publisher didn’t have the proper rights to sell the books in the U.S.

The move annoyed some consumers. “I love my Kindle, but if they can take back a book after I buy it, that bothers me,” said one. Amazon later promised to change its system and “not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances,” according to a spokesman.

Regardless, according to Fowler, the incident raises some difficult questions about what it means to “own” books in the digital age. Some experts are saying that these matters might best be remedied by passing new laws that clearly define digital ownership.

“What this incident shows is that the law gives radically more control to the company than the system ought to,” says Harvard’s Lawrence Lessig.

Thing is, writes Fowler, owning an e-book is more akin to licensing a piece of software than it is to owning a bound volume: access comes with fine-print terms of service, and often digital rights management software to ensure that you abide by the rules.

These differences might not sit well with consumers in the long haul. Over time, “people are going to get uncomfortable with applying this software licensing model to all sorts of things in their lives that they used to just own,” says Cindy Cohn, the Legal Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “A license is better for companies, but not necessarily for you.”

Case in point: an ordinary bookstore wouldn’t be allowed to come into a buyer’s home to retrieve a book that he or she owned. Legal experts are divided on whether Amazon broke its own contract with consumers by removing the Orwell e-books. The fine print in the company’s terms of service gives consumers the “right to keep a permanent copy” of purchased titles, but also reserves Amazon’s “right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the service at any time.”

Still, U.S. law generally supports the terms of service imposed by companies — so long as they’re listed up-front.

Another difference: Real books can be shared with a friend or sold, but e-books with digital rights management software cannot. The number of devices that can play a single e-book license varies from one publisher to the next, and often confuses consumers.

For example, Scott Bloom, director of student services and curriculum for Milton-Union Exempted Village School District in Ohio, recently purchased 11 Kindles for his 1st through 5th grade students this fall. He bought more than 100 books — but only one license for each, even though he has put a copy on each of his Kindles. He has looked, but hasn’t seen any fine print from Amazon telling him that’s not allowed. Amazon declined to comment.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 23, 2009 (boomark / email).