Sharing unshareable Kindle books?

[jgates]

My best friend bought a kindle & I used to always give her my paperback copies of my Harlequin Intrigues. However I now buy them on Kindle Fire & when I went in to 'share' or 'loan' them to her, the function isn't available for these paperbacks. (Which surprises me because they aren't expensive top selling books?)

Is there a method I could do this with in a different matter? Could I hook my laptop to her kindle via USB & telling it to download & transfer via USB or will it recognize that the Amazon account on that kindle doesn't match the account purchased under? Or could we log into Amazon under my account on her kindle - would it then think she was me?

These just seem to be the first books I have run into that don't have a 'lost' function on them so I am in a pickle.

 

[Nayan]

If a book is unlendable, you're out of luck . You could always trade Kindles if you want to read a book but there's no way to share them if it doesn't have lending enabled. You can't log in and use her Kindle on your account.

 

[dhardawa]

Amazon encrypts with your email address. Since her Kindle is registered to her email, the files won't open. The only way around this is to unencrypt the files. Google it.

 

[Marionnette]

The reason why Kindle books are cheaper than dead tree books is because they do not have unlimited lendablility like a paperback does. There are work-arounds but they are not legal and involves busting through the DRM encryption. The resulting "book" may not be as readable as the Kindle version (kerning on the pages may be off, unable to change font sizes, lacks ability to make notes or highlights).

TBH, if you and your friend share a lot of books, it might be a good idea to create a new Amazon account and register both Kindles to that account. That way both devices will be able to read the books that each of you purchases.

 

[jgates]

Can a single kindle be registered on 2 accounts?

 

[Marionnette]

Can a single kindle be registered on 2 accounts?

No. Only one account per Kindle but you can have multiple devices per account.

 

[bumbershoot]

Only one account per Kindle but you can have multiple devices per account.

And you can link and unlink a kindle as many times as you'd like.

My brother and his wife have an account that they share with her parents, so they don't have to buy books more than once.

 

[tasha99]

The reason why Kindle books are cheaper than dead tree books is because they do not have unlimited lendablility like a paperback does. There are work-arounds but they are not legal and involves busting through the DRM encryption. The resulting "book" may not be as readable as the Kindle version (kerning on the pages may be off, unable to change font sizes, lacks ability to make notes or highlights).

TBH, if you and your friend share a lot of books, it might be a good idea to create a new Amazon account and register both Kindles to that account. That way both devices will be able to read the books that each of you purchases.

Except that kindle versions are often NOT cheaper than paper books. It's sad and disappointing that publishers control the pricing now rather than Amazon. I am mostly buying second hand books, even though I have a kindle and had planned to download most books.

 

[dawnball]

Except that kindle versions are often NOT cheaper than paper books. It's sad and disappointing that publishers control the pricing now rather than Amazon. I am mostly buying second hand books, even though I have a kindle and had planned to download most books.

I was going to say "Waaait a minute! Kindle books aren't cheaper!" I live in a small-ish apartment, and I adore books. It often means that I pay more to have the kindle version.

My library loans ebooks. The waiting list for ebooks is always about twice as many people long as paper books, and you don't get to keep them as long.

 

[Styx Fan]

Except that kindle versions are often NOT cheaper than paper books. It's sad and disappointing that publishers control the pricing now rather than Amazon. I am mostly buying second hand books, even though I have a kindle and had planned to download most books.

A friend of mine has a Nook. She has gotten so ticked off at the prices of the Nook books that is now back to buying some of her books on paper. She is a very generous soul and does not like that many of her e-books cannot be loaned or only loaned for a short time period. Reading is her primary hobby and she buys books she wants when they come out, and took pleasure in the fact she could pass on the fun. If the books were significantly cheaper on the Nook, that was one thing. But to pay almost the same price for only her to read she feels is just wrong.

Personally, I saw this coming when so many folks started getting readers. Paper books can take on a life of their own and be loaned over and over and over again. But of course that cuts into the profits. If you can keep an ebook to just the initial purchaser, you make more money by making people buy their own copies.

 

[Goofyzgurl]

Except that kindle versions are often NOT cheaper than paper books. It's sad and disappointing that publishers control the pricing now rather than Amazon. I am mostly buying second hand books, even though I have a kindle and had planned to download most books.

That's the truth! I've actually seen ebooks that are more expensive than the paper books. Which did not make sense at all.

 

[dhardawa]

The reason why Kindle books are cheaper than dead tree books is because they do not have unlimited lendablility like a paperback does. There are work-arounds but they are not legal and involves busting through the DRM encryption. The resulting "book" may not be as readable as the Kindle version (kerning on the pages may be off, unable to change font sizes, lacks ability to make notes or highlights).
TBH, if you and your friend share a lot of books, it might be a good idea to create a new Amazon account and register both Kindles to that account. That way both devices will be able to read the books that each of you purchases.

Nope, if the Kindle book is clean, the unencrypted version will be too.

 

[Ginny Favers]

Nope, if the Kindle book is clean, the unencrypted version will be too.

Regardless, the biggest point here is that it is NOT LEGAL, so don't do it. It's stealing, and it hurts the author.

 

[Chipperjones]

Regardless, the biggest point here is that it is NOT LEGAL, so don't do it. It's stealing, and it hurts the author.

I was just thinking this, there are surely was around it but morally its probably not cool. And how much is a "non" popular book anyway.

But its interesting to see where the legality on this ends up in the future. By law you can "copy" your cd, tape, record etc twice. Once for a backup and an addition as a "spare" im wondering if this will ever be the case for "kindle" books. If it is at that point they will be forced to allow you to copy it

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I thought Kindle books were cheaper because they didn't have to pay for the printing (ink and paper). It's one the major drawbacks to e-readers in my opinion.

 

[vicki_c]

I thought Kindle books were cheaper because they didn't have to pay for the printing (ink and paper). It's one the major drawbacks to e-readers in my opinion.

Ebooks were cheaper for a while, when Apple and Amazon were setting the prices. Then there was some sort of lawsuit or something with the publishing industry and now the publishers set the prices. I may not be describing that accurately, it was a few years ago and I can't remember the details any more.

 

[melancholywings]

They can be cheap if you're reading indie authors. Which there are some great books out there that you can pick up for free or cheap. It's some of the publishing houses that are pushing the crazy prices - like the music industry.

I wanted to back up some of my old favorite books, I don't know if I'll ever read them again. The new prices were crazy high compared to picking up a used paperback at a used book store.

 

[dhardawa]

Regardless, the biggest point here is that it is NOT LEGAL, so don't do it. It's stealing, and it hurts the author.

It is not stealing and does not hurt the author if I unencrypt and put it on my daughter's Kindle and my Nook. It is no different than if I bought the book and we both read it. It would be different if I were uploading it to a file sharing site. It is pure greed to try to make someone buy the same book twice so two people in the same household can read it. We won't even get into the fact that by buying an e-book, I now lose the resale value of the book like I would with paperbacks.

If this discussion were about buying a cd on iTunes and burning a copy for my daughter, I can't imagine anyone would tell me I was stealing and hurting the artist. Or, better yet, buying a cd on iTunes, loading it to my iPod and burning a copy to listen to in the car so, essentially, taking steps to use it on two devices.

 

[Marionnette]

It is not stealing and does not hurt the author if I unencrypt and put it on my daughter's Kindle and my Nook. It is no different than if I bought the book and we both read it. It would be different if I were uploading it to a file sharing site. It is pure greed to try to make someone buy the same book twice so two people in the same household can read it. We won't even get into the fact that by buying an e-book, I now lose the resale value of the book like I would with paperbacks.

If this discussion were about buying a cd on iTunes and burning a copy for my daughter, I can't imagine anyone would tell me I was stealing and hurting the artist. Or, better yet, buying a cd on iTunes, loading it to my iPod and burning a copy to listen to in the car so, essentially, taking steps to use it on two devices.

It is illegal to bust thru the DRM, which is specifically placed on the file to prevent sharing across devices, and then place the file on another e-reader. You can try to rationalize it whatever way you want but your argument does not hold water.

If I have a paperback and I'm in the process of reading it, my daughter cannot sit on a train commuting to school and read the very same paperback. She would have to purchase her own copy of that paperback if she wasn't willing to wait until I had finished reading it. On the same note, if I purchase a book on my Kindle, I can loan the device to her, just like someone would loan a book out, and she can read any book that I've purchased on it. There's nothing to stop me from loaning out my device and all of the books on it.

OTOH, copyright law permits you to burn a CD of music that you purchased on iTunes as long as it is for your personal use. If you burn a copy and give it to a friend, then you have violated the law. There's an entire SNL skit on youtube about how insane this sounds. But it is the law. You may not like it but then, there are all kinds of laws that we don't agree with but we still have to abide by.

 

[Ember]

Give it a few years and the publishing industry will drop the DRM the same as the music industry did on iTunes. It's just too restrictive and eventually they will work out that it's hurting rather than helping them.

As a PP mentioned, stripping the DRM can very easily be done so the file can be shared, just do a quick Google search, but it is illegal. On a board where people happily brag about their scrapper Disney pin purchases (because pin trading shouldn't be so expensive, dang it!), the censure against removing the DRM from books strikes me as entertaining.