e-book resell legal ?

Discussion in 'Legal Issues' started by Jackson_Hu, Dec 19, 2005.

  1. #1
    I bought some e-book but I am not satisfied with the content ,can I resell them to e-bay ?

    just like paper book , I used to sell them to second hand market I am sure what i do to solid books did not against the copyright .And how about e-books ?


    of course I will remove the file after I sell them out .
     
    Jackson_Hu, Dec 19, 2005 IP
  2. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #2
    Do you have the resale rights to these ebooks ?
    If not then the original writer can get you in trouble ...
    If you don't like the content ,
    Does the writer offer a money back guarantee ?

    Regards
    jeet
     
    JEET, Dec 19, 2005 IP
  3. token20

    token20 Peon

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    #3
    I see no problem with selling one ebook, one time, and then deleting the file.

    But since there is no way for the author to be 100% assured that you did this, I think they would be very upset.

    Basically, I would try to resell it, but to make sure the ad states this is a one time sale of a "used ebook" (is that possible?) and you are NOT the author, you have no other copies, and you are going to get rid of it after the auction.

    Or just return it if you can. Most of those ebook sellers have return policies.
     
    token20, Dec 19, 2005 IP
  4. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #4
    Are you serious ???
    Tell me you are kidding ...
    1 time or 10 times , it is copyright breach .
    How about someone picks an image from your website and , puts it on his website and at the bottom mentions that he will remove the image after 1 month ?

    Think about 1000 people doing the same "1" time sales of a ebook .

    " You cannot resell an ebook until you have resale rights ."

    Jeet
     
    JEET, Dec 20, 2005 IP
  5. raycampbell

    raycampbell Peon

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    #5
    <" You cannot resell an ebook until you have resale rights .">

    I'm not so sure that is right when you are talking about selling your only personal copy. I think it is an interesting question.

    You bought something when you bought the ebook. Obviously, you did not buy the right to resell it 1000 times. Just as obviously, you bought the right to read and use it.

    But did you buy the right to transfer your copy to someone else (along with upgrade rights, etc., etc.) when you are done with it?

    Sometimes the upgrade rights are the big part of the value. For example, I bought a SEO book (version 2) from so-called SEO whiz Mike Grehan about 16 months ago based on his site's representation that updated Version 3 was nearly done and would be provided to registered Version 2 owners. He has my money; I still don't have and may never have the Version 3 that was a big part of my reason for buying. If I were to sell his Version 2 book, which was out of date and pretty much useless way back when I bought it (he's still selling it, btw, with the same promise about Version 3), the main thing I would be selling would be the rights to Version 3, if and when Grehan makes good on his promise to issue that part of the value package to the folks whose money he took. Why shouldn't I be able to sell the more-or-less useless Version 2 and the perhaps ephemeral upgrade rights to someone who considers Grehan more trustworthy than I do?

    Generally, with software, you often do have the right to sell a used copy. In that case, it all depends on the license. Sometimes, you have to get the vendors permission (e.g., with Oracle databases) which they may or may not give.

    I am not sure how the law treats ebooks. I am not even sure that the law has a treatment for ebooks, in that they are recent enough that there may not be cases or statutes on point. I think it's an interesting question, and would bet that there is not yet a court-tested answer.
     
    raycampbell, Dec 20, 2005 IP
  6. Jackson_Hu

    Jackson_Hu Peon

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    #6
    This is something like if I buy a second hand sony CD from e-bay .Will sony check the seller if he clone the CD in his laptop ?People can sell the original stuff they bought with copyright ,right ?e-book is just another form of publishment like real book and CD .
    I check with some friends they say if the e-book seller did not ask you to agree the resell right before you pay the money .They can not stop people to resell the e-book.But if this people resell the e-book for more than one times ,he is in trouble .And also the resell right agreement is just some thing like contract but not copy right related .
    well I would say this is something in gray area .
     
    Jackson_Hu, Dec 20, 2005 IP
  7. JEET

    JEET Notable Member

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    #7
    I am totally unable to understand , "why is it so difficult to conclude that you cannot sell an ebook unless you are the copyright owner or have resale rights "?

    Could you share the "Thankyou" download page with 1 friend ??? NO , and that's how it is .
    Jeet
     
    JEET, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  8. aeiouy

    aeiouy Peon

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    #8
    I think it is an interesting question.

    I don't think you understand the question farishtaey.c0m

    If I buy a book at a bookstore, I can take that book and sell it to a friend. If I buy an e-book online, can I take THAT e-book and sell it to a friend?

    My guess is absolutely yes. It is your e-book and if you want to sell it to someone else when you are done with it, I would suspect that would be legal.
     
    aeiouy, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  9. marketjunction

    marketjunction Well-Known Member

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    #9
    It is interesting because this is in fact "data" and not a tangible item. What I am about to say is out there so correct me if I am wrong.

    Recently, a women lost her appeal in the 7th circuit. She downloaded music from a file sharing service. Here comes the interesting part. She claimed to be the owner of some of the songs and wanted those dismissed from consideration. The Judge said, even though she owned the songs, she violated the copyright of the owner because she caused duplicate copies to be created. He also cited a supreme court case to back up his decision. I could go on specifically, but that's the crux of the part I am referring to.

    So here we have an ebook, which is data. By giving it to another person, you are causing duplicates to be created. If we apply that case here, it would be copyright infringement.

    As was pointed out, you also need to look at your EULA. The item in question might not be transferable to begin with.

    I tend to think of Ebooks as disposable media.
     
    marketjunction, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  10. timothyleary

    timothyleary Peon

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    #10
    Most ebooks come with re-seller rights (probably because of the rampant copying anyway) but if it doesn't explicitly say that it does grant resale rights it's safe to say that you cannot sell any amount of copies. Though I doubt that anyone would persue charges over 1 copy. Maybe they would.
     
    timothyleary, Dec 25, 2005 IP