Something I've Also Wondered

[talon]

Why can't people buy e-books as gifts for friends with e-readers?

I can understand not sharing a book one has bought because it often means duplicating the book in order to share it - and that leads into tricky copyright laws.

It's not like a print book - when you buy a print book and want to share it, you have to physically give that book to the other person and you don't get access to it until they give it back. If they ever do. They may pass it along to someone else, and someone else, or leave as a Bookcrossing. In the end, it is just one copy of the book that is moving along.

In an e-book, to share it, most people make a copy and pass the copy on to the friend. They both end up with a copy of the book, after buying just one copy. Then, if they want to share it with another friend, they make another copy, and now there are three copies. If those friends want to share the book, they then makes copies of their copies, there are dozens of copies of the book floating around, for the purchase price of one book.

That is where the problem comes in. Authors aren't against sharing a good book, they are, rightfully, against copies of the book being made for which they receive no revenue.

Let's revisit the print book. If the purchaser of the book wanted to share it, would it be legal and right for that person to make a copy of the book to share, and get to keep the original s/he bought? And then the borrower - would it be right for the borrower to then make a copy of the copy they borrowed to share? Now we have three print copies of the book for the price of one print copy. Is that fair to the author, whose livelihood and publishability depend on the numbers and revenue generated by the royalties on purchased copies? We all agree it's not. We want authors to write books we enjoy reading. That means we have to pay them a fair price for those books - and they get paid on a per copy basis. If there are lots of copies of the books being made that the publisher can't track to both see how well the book is doing (New York Best Seller List becomes unreliable and unusable) and how much to pay the author, then the publisher won't produce (I'm not going to say "print", because a book is more than its medium) any more books by that author, and that author doesn't get paid, so the author finds work that does pay seeing as even authors need a home and food and clothes and things. As it stands now, very, very few authors get to live on their words alone. Most have another job that pays the bulk of their bills because books don't pay well even when it's just print versions being sold and lent.

Now, let's revisit the ebook thing. As it stands, the author gets paid only for the copies that are legitimately sold. If it were possible for the original copy to be sent to someone else's ereader, disappearing off of the original purchaser's, that would mimic what happens when a person buys a book and lends it to a friend. If the friend doesn't return it, then the original purchaser (OP) would have to buy another copy if they wanted to read it again or share it with someone else, just as they currently do when they lend a print book. And if the OP wants to give a copy of a book to someone as a gift, they have to currently buy a print copy, but in ebooks, they just duplicate off the original book and pass over the illegal copy they just made as the "gift". The author loses the tracking of that book, which lowers their numbers, and that in turn lowers their pay for the book and reduces the possibility that they'll ever be published again.

If it were possible for people to buy ebooks as gifts that were sent to someone else's ereader, that would certainly solve many of the current problems about sharing that ebooks have.

and if it were possible for the original ebook to be transferred to someone else's ereader - without the OP retaining a copy - and then to have it transferred back (or passed along to several other people before being transferred back, or even never transferred back at all - those friends who don't return books will still exist), that would solve the other side of the ebook equation. There would be no need to track illegal copies because there wouldn't be as many. Most people want a way to share a book they liked - and most authors are pleased when books get shared. It's that pesky copying that's the issue - and the inability to buy ebooks for someone else.

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<p><lj-cut><p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/07/26/amazon.gift.ebook/index.html?hpt=Sbin">Why can't people buy e-books as gifts for friends with e-readers?</a><p>I can understand not sharing a book one has bought because it often means duplicating the book in order to share it - and that leads into tricky copyright laws.<p>It's not like a print book - when you buy a print book and want to share it, you have to physically give that book to the other person and you don't get access to it until they give it back. If they ever do. They may pass it along to someone else, and someone else, or leave as a Bookcrossing. In the end, it is <i>just one copy</i> of the book that is moving along.<p>In an e-book, to share it, most people make a copy and pass the copy on to the friend. They both end up with a copy of the book, after buying just one copy. Then, if they want to share it with another friend, they make another copy, and now there are three copies. If those friends want to share the book, they then makes copies of their copies, there are dozens of copies of the book floating around, for the purchase price of one book.<p>That is where the problem comes in. Authors aren't against sharing a good book, they are, rightfully, against copies of the book being made for which they receive no revenue.<p>Let's revisit the print book. If the purchaser of the book wanted to share it, would it be legal and right for that person to make a copy of the book to share, and get to keep the original s/he bought? And then the borrower - would it be right for the borrower to then make a copy of the copy they borrowed to share? Now we have three print copies of the book for the price of one print copy. Is that fair to the author, whose livelihood and publishability depend on the numbers and revenue generated by the royalties on purchased copies? We all agree it's not. We want authors to write books we enjoy reading. That means we have to pay them a fair price for those books - and they get paid on a per copy basis. If there are lots of copies of the books being made that the publisher can't track to both see how well the book is doing (New York Best Seller List becomes unreliable and unusable) and how much to pay the author, then the publisher won't produce (I'm not going to say "print", because a book is more than its medium) any more books by that author, and that author doesn't get paid, so the author finds work that does pay seeing as even authors need a home and food and clothes and things. As it stands now, very, very few authors get to live on their words alone. Most have another job that pays the bulk of their bills because books don't pay well even when it's just print versions being sold and lent. <p>Now, let's revisit the ebook thing. As it stands, the author gets paid only for the copies that are legitimately sold. If it were possible for the original copy to be sent to someone else's ereader, disappearing off of the original purchaser's, that would mimic what happens when a person buys a book and lends it to a friend. If the friend doesn't return it, then the original purchaser (OP) would have to buy another copy if they wanted to read it again or share it with someone else, just as they currently do when they lend a print book. And if the OP wants to give a copy of a book to someone as a gift, they have to currently buy a print copy, but in ebooks, they just duplicate off the original book and pass over the illegal copy they just made as the "gift". The author loses the tracking of that book, which lowers their numbers, and that in turn lowers their pay for the book and reduces the possibility that they'll ever be published again.<p>If it were possible for people to buy ebooks as gifts that were sent to someone else's ereader, that would certainly solve many of the current problems about sharing that ebooks have.<p>and if it were possible for the original ebook to be transferred to someone else's ereader - without the OP retaining a copy - and then to have it transferred back (or passed along to several other people before being transferred back, or even never transferred back at all - those friends who don't return books will still exist), that would solve the other side of the ebook equation. There would be no need to track illegal copies because there wouldn't be as many. Most people want a way to share a book they liked - and most authors are pleased when books get shared. It's that pesky copying that's the issue - and the inability to buy ebooks for someone else.<p.</lj-cut>