Submission + - Why Your e-Books Are No Longer Yours 1
Predictions Market writes: "Gizmodo has an interesting analysis of the issue of reselling and copying e-books downloaded to Amazon's Kindle or the Sony Reader and an answer to the fundamental question: Are you buying a crippled license to intellectual property when you download, or are you buying an honest-to-God book? In the fine print that you "agree" to, Amazon and Sony say you just get a license to the e-books — you're not paying to own 'em, in spite of the use of the term "buy." Digital retailers say that the first sale doctrine — which would let you hawk your old Harry Potter hardcovers on eBay — no longer applies. It's a license that you can't sell. But is this claim legal? Just because Sony or Amazon call it a license, that doesn't make it so. "That's a factual question determined by courts," says one lawyer. "Even if a publisher calls it a license, if the transaction actually looks more like a sale, users will retain their right to resell the copy.""