They’ve just announced a patent that allows people to sell “used” ebooks:
Of course, ebooks don’t suffer from wear and tear, but think of the resale process as more of a way to transfer your book licences. This is already in action in a way—users can currently “lend” out Kindle books, which then disappear from your device as your friend holds the copy in their digital libraries.
Amazon will get richer, but indie authors will get slaughtered by this. Unless Amazon somehow managed to send a portion of money from resales to the author, it’s going to cut down on them actually selling books. Authors never see a penny from the sale of used books, or remnants, and they can and will cannibalize sales.
Indie authors don’t need this. They generally sell far fewer copies of works than mainstream authors, and work in genres or themes that many don’t, like Christian SF or steampunk. If this goes through, it’s going to HAMMER many of the internet small presses by robbing them of sales.
I’m really worried about this. Kindle Lending didn’t really harm sales because of the limits of one book on one device at a time, and one free loan a month. It also paid authors a small sum when the book is borrowed. This…this is horrible. Ebooks were supposed to increase profitability while lowering retail prices, and if we see this happen, expect to see prices skyrocket as publishers have little choice but to get more money from their fans.
I hope I’m proven wrong, and this can be a supplement and not a hinderance to new ebook sales. But it really feels like Amazon is so greedy that as long as they can get their fees, they don’t mind if authors can’t make money on selling their books.
Feb 08, 2013 @ 14:07:42
Wow, I certainly have conflicting feelings about that.
I wonder if it’s a reaction to DRM-free fanatics who would boycott any Internet content provider that won’t let them use the digital content that they purchase however they want to. I’m not quite fanatic about it, but DRM-free content does seem much more valuable to me than DRM because of the DRM restrictions. I’ve heard people grumbling for years about not being able to lend and resell digital content. To me, it does seem very unfair that I pay real money for something, but I don’t technically “own” it except by the grace of the giant corporation that I paid money to, and I can’t do with it as I please, and when I die, it goes away and I can’t leave it in my will to my great grand-heirs.
I suspect this move will make Amazon appear a little less evil in many consumers’ minds, which was probably exactly the calculated result that Amazon was aiming for, even at the expense of authors.
I think the real danger will be if ebook buyers are allowed to give away their used ebooks for free. If I buy a printed book and don’t like it, it would be natural for me to want to give it to someone who I think might like it. However, I don’t think I would take the effort to try to find someone to sell a used ebook to. Unless Amazon would buy back the used ebook, but that would surely create an outrage.
I feel that the world would be more just if I could do everything with my digital content that I can do with my physically-owned products, but I’m also sympathetic to the authors. I’ve recently had an experience of utterly failing in an attempt to make a little money online, too.
Feb 08, 2013 @ 20:09:02
But you can though. Many Kindle books are completely DRM free, can be loaned on a peer-to-peer basis between Kindles, and local libraries as well as Amazon Prime allow borrowing. Really, all that you can’t do is resell the book, and that’s often made up by the low prices of many indie authors. You can even transfer them among devices, which was one of the legitimate arguments against anti-DRM.
I’m just worried that we’ll start to see authors needing to compete against their own works, just like remnants in bookstores, but with the added difficulty of small initial sales. Most of the online small presses operate on a shoestring budget as it is;this could prove fatal.
Feb 08, 2013 @ 21:55:39
Ick! Such a messy situation! Kind of discouraging, too.