The 'awakening' for me was turning on my Kindle one day to find Amazon had updated the cover of MY copy of The Martian, which pre-dated the movie, with Matt Damon's face. My initial rage was centered around it being akin to them entering my house and swapping out one of the books from my bookshelf; then it occurred to me that it wasn't comparable, because the book was never mine to begin with - I just thought it was.
@@Chewbury dude really loves the taste of the boot up his rear. Person can spend hundred of dollars "buying stuff online" but if the company decides to shut down the service, you lose all your stuff with no recourse. But that's okay with you apparently?? I hope you lose all your stuff
Exactly! Every company of every digital mediia has DRM and has hoops to deDRM and preserve away from the purchased from company. This whole video just screams off bias and lack of research.
@@TheRitharuyep. The only thing I could say in Kobos favour is that epubs can be bought and used on many platforms. So I think you can buy ePubs and use them on a boox or kobo device for example. However, you couldn’t read your Kobo books on a kindle without removing the DRM.
@@shanghaichica The gamble is which of the "walled gardens" remains in business 10 years from now and which format persists. Right now finding dedrm for both formats is easy so removing the drm right away is the best strategy to eliminate the gamble. Again, I think the important thing to recognize is that you are in the same circumstance no matter which format you are using and to have a retention strategy that works for your situation and allows you to switch gardens whenever a compelling new device is released.
I have been removing DRM from all ebooks I buy for 10+ years. So it surprises me when I see others that aren’t aware of these limitations. Once you figure out how to remove it, and do it as you buy a book, the process becomes very easy to manage.
One reason things have got to where we currently are in the world is that _most_ people cruise along unaware of _most_ things _most_ of the time. In some ways I envy that.
@@GJStone-tf7vl I use a program called Calibre (highly recommended for ebook curation). Then Google drm plugin. You should find plenty of links with tutorials.
Welcome to the resistance!! If you are moving to owning your ebooks I strongly recommend checking out the pocketbook readers, the don’t focus on trapping you in thier ecosystem, and are my ebook readers of choice.
I had my eye-opening experience about "wait, we don't *own* the ebooks, we're just *renting* them??" when Microsoft closed down its ebook store. All the books people had bought went poof. They gave some amount of notice so those who wanted to keep their books could try to get downloaded copies, but basically, poof. I realized the same could happen any time with any of the ebooks and audiobooks. Amazon and Audible are unlikely to go bankrupt (never say never, but...) and they're unlikely to stop selling ebooks and audiobooks (again, never say never) so it's unlikely one would lose their entire library. But the "banned book" problem is a real issue. I agree, if you bought it, and they unpublish it, no takesy-backsies (though then it gets a bit morally grey -- if they don't pay the author royalties on sales, when their work has been unpublished, but readers bought it, that means Amazon gets to pocket all the money and not just some of it. So should they refund the money back to readers and then take back the book? Or refund the money and you keep the book? Or...? It gets complicated. Except that we should be looking at it the same way as a bookseller selling physical books who decides not to sell those books anymore. If they can't take back the physical copy, they shouldn't be able to take back the ebook.
This! I realize that digital media has unique problems not associated with physical media, but DRM and telling us that we're only licensing for the same price as buying a physical copy isn't the answer.
I am not accustomed to this. It makes me angry that I don't own what I paid for. For example, I have a circuit (cutting machine). When I purchased my Cricut, I could download files from different companies. The company changed its policy a year later, and I could no longer download files from other companies. It made me so angry. I now have a machine I no longer use because I will not download files from that company. If I could jailbreak my machine, I would have done it. I paid good money for that machine. I had a subscription, which I cancelled because of their new policy. I have many examples of companies who act like I am renting instead of making a purchase. They all make me angry.
@@tarabooartarmy3654 Yes, it's scary. I don't even have music subscriptions. I purchase a “CD” a month. Nothing is forever. What happens if a company goes bankrupt?
... and all those "free" library books - my property taxes help pay for these - was my rationalization for buying a top-end eReader. And Kobo's ease of check-out decided it for me.
I didn't expect a Louis Rossmann crossover but I'm here for it. I'm glad to see more people recognizing the insanity of fake digital ownership, DRM, and other nonsense like that. Watering the grounds of competition is a good next step.
If you don't mind me saying a bit of a controversial opinion: the idea that all pirating is a unethical and a moral failing is a quite privileged one. Outside of the major anglophone countries like the USA, UK, Canada, etc books can be quite pricey for the average income or very hard to find (in particular new releases, either in English or in translated versions), in addition, libraries are either scarce or do not carry the type of books a lot of people want to read. I pirate most of my books, and only once I start reading them and liking them, then I usually buy the physical copy to support the author. But that means having to order them online and pay shipping (and sometimes import) costs. That gets expensive! And I live in the EU with reasonable access to shipping and a above average income for my country (though below for the abovementioned countries). Imagine other countries that don't have those system, or have strong political censorship, or have very weak currencies and/or small salaries. In those situations a book can cost the price of an entire week's worth of meals. Are we to tell those people that they shouldn't have access to books? I don't agree with that. Add to it the growing trend of companies thinking they can remove access or delete content that you have purchased, and piracy is the obvious answer. How much content - books, films, games, tv series - will be forever lost to corporate greed? That's what happens when everything is digital and subscription based. Pirating is a way to conserve art. As for the typical argument "You are stealing money from the artists by pirating", it has several issues: 1- Most people who pirate won't buy the content. It's not a "lost sale" as the publishing industries like to say. It's either too expensive or completely inaccessible. 2- It's blaming the common people for the artists' unfair salaries instead of the rich publishing industries who are actually exploiting them. 3- The more people consume that content, the bigger its reach, the more people (who can afford it) will buy it. Just through word-of-mouth alone. Edit: I've reached the point in your video where you tell people like me to piss off. Don't worry I'll be sure to not watch your content any longer but before that, your "solution" of using Overdrive/Libby is not feasible. Outside English speaking countries, this service is rare, if non-existent. So we are back again to the same solution. Either pirate or don't read at all.
I found that rather pompous myself. I will pirate copies of things out of print that you can't find physical copies at a reasonable price. The sales of those second hand items do not go to the author. I usually do this for old RPG books that like I said are out of print. I also buy bootleg DVDs of movies and shows that have never been released on DVD. Would I buy a legal copy if available hell yes but if the studio won't put one out then screw them. I live in the US and I used to read ebooks from my library because they had a huge selection. Then I moved to a smaller county and their library selection of ebooks is pathetic. So no not everyone has access to good libraries.
Here in latinoamerica are people that reprint books and sell it for 1 or 2 dollars because buying it legally cost average 10-20 Dollars and that is a meal and dinner for a whole family, and we dont have nice librarys because people tend to steal the good books for themselves or they resell them
It's the same with videogames. Piracy doesn't affect sales, nor does internet streaming for the games. If someone was going to buy the game, they will . If someone wasn't going to buy the game, they won't. No matter if they pirate it or not. In fact, sometimes pirating leads to someone buying the game when they were not even considering it. I used to pirate all my games because I was a teen with no money. Now I am an adult with more money but I still refuse to pay 70€ a game, so I only buy games when they are complete and on sale. I don't pirate anymore, but I don't buy the same amount of games I used to pirate either. I stopped pirating because I started buying games, not the other way around.
You’re not “entitled” to something for free just because you can’t afford it. If you can’t afford it you can save your money until you can afford it. Why should an author have to give you their hard work for free just because you don’t have the money. You’re not entitled anything. If you can’t afford it work harder until you can.
physical media will always be king for consumer protection at least as long as corporations are allowed to do whatever they choose without facing any consequences.
Or digital media with no drm and open format. But yes, physical is more sure, even if they have a similar licence of use (e.g. you cannot copy a dvd or a book).
Oh, I hear you on the topic of ownership. Growing up in a specialist school with a library full of huge, hard-copy Braille books, I didn't get to actually own any books which I could read until well into adulthood. Now, for the first time in my life, I can buy and own books which I can convert to my format of choice and read on one of my Braille devices. I use a simple little programme called Codex (now no longer developed), which a felow blind person invented to do just this: strip the DRM and convert it to a format we can read in Braille on our device of choice. Kindle books have been getting increasingly difficult to strip and convert, hence my shift to Kobo. I'm currently enjoying Janet Frame's Omnibus autobiography, 'An Angel at my Table'. Thank you for your thoughts. I have subscribed.
The main reason people pirate is because they view it as easier than buying, not simply because it’s ‘cheaper’. This is why practically nobody pirates PC games anymore, because Steam made it much easier for consumers to buy games (especially with regular deep discount sales). But at the end of the day this still requires someone to publish the games to the Steam platform, which hasn’t happened for many older games, so people have to find other ways to get those games. Plenty of out-of-print niche books only received physical publishing and haven’t had electronic releases for one reason and another, hell - as a student I had a real hard time finding some big-name philosophers’ lesser-known works in a format I as a visually impaired person could access ‘legally’. So when I can’t find an ebook for purchase I’m forced to access it another way. When a book series gets taken down from the kindle or kobo store and you’re only halfway through, where would you go to finish reading if it isn’t published anywhere else? Would you seriously just not finish the series?
Steam also has the benefit of being more pro-consumer than their competitors. There's a handful of games in my library that you can't buy anymore, for various reasons, on the Steam platform. Valve doesn't do what Amazon has done. Those games are still in my library. I can still play them. When EA flounced off the platform, for example, my access to Spore and Jade Empire didn't disappear. I could make a copy of the files to back them up without having to strip DRM out of them. This is why game companies have started to push live service or always online. They can force your Steam copy to be unusable by taking those servers offline, even if the entirety of the game could still function if you just patched the call to the server out.
Kobo and Amazon use the same logic of protecting content (aka "the books") with digital rights management (DRM). Basically, you don't buy the book, you just buy a licence to use the content. If you want to ensure that the books with DRM are yours forever, there is no other choice other than to remove the DRM to create one copy for personal use (which is legalish, as this is permitted in the licence agreement). Be aware though, that both Amazon and Kobo regularly update the reading software you use to read your books on PC/Mac and their devices (including the various flavours of Kindles and Kobos), and you will need to keep current with the software and plugins that allow you to remove DRM. I totally agree, that the practice of using digital rights management is not consumer friendly. It is however not Amazon or Kobo that impose this on publishing houses or self-publishing authors. They can chose not to use DRM, if they wish to do so. For Amazon or Kobo to be able to yank an already purchased book-licence from your library without compensation, is the really worrying bit. Legally they should not be able to do this, as the licence you acquire is perpetual, but they have done it on a number of occasions, so just be aware of that and don't feel bad to remove DRM, as long as you don't share the now unprotected files and keep them strictly for your personal use. Then you can read them pretty much on any device.
Exactly! I’ve also been DeDRMing my ebooks for years, and it’s not just Amazon or ebooks, but all companies and all digital media. Like you said, it’s not the selling companies that impose many of these restrictions, but the publisher of the digital media.
@@tarabooartarmy3654 In my opinion that would legitimize the distribution of pirated content. It's one thing to remove DRM from a digital book *I* bought and paid for and store a digital copy for my personal use but quit another to download a drm-free copy of a book you use, cause somebody put his or her DRM-free copy out there and does not respect the author (even if I bought a copy with DRM).
@@tarabooartarmy3654pirating (even if you already own a legal copy) is illegal and I would never advocate for that. Plus, it takes the same, if not less, effort to simply download the purchased copy. drag it into Calibre, and that alone strips the DRM and you have a saved copy offline.
@@TheRitharu I’ve done that and I’ve also had it fail to remove the DRM several times and it was frustrating. Whereas I can download the file already stripped and save the time. And it’s not illegal to download a copy of a book you already own. It’s only illegal to distribute them. It’s against the terms of most publishers’ rights, but that’s not a matter of legality. That’s a civil matter.
You own that stuff. You pay for it. You download it to your device. You don't need to switch devices. You remove the DRM lock on it and put it on your hard drive in an ebook organizer like Calibre. Wallah!!! You own it for life. The device is inconsequential. It's just like buying a physical copy of the book. I take it home. Amazon does not come and take it from my house. I'm not distributing my ebooks. They exist on my device only. That's my personal library. So don't feel bad about sideloading books onto your device.
I guess I’m old school, I just buy regular paper books. I like the ability to pass them on to friends or to resell them at a lower cost if they are ones that I don’t want to keep. I have a big enough house that I can do that. Three levels of storage space, so I can keep a few books around if I wish to reread them. At least this way if the weather takes out cell service and internet as it does sometimes in storms, I have a physical copy of something on hand to entertain myself.
If you wish to take a principled stand on owning your ebooks, ensure you only purchase DRM-free ebooks. The Kobo store has a whole section devote to DRM-free ebooks. Also any books you buy from Kobo that aren't in the DRM-free section, you may need to check to see if they have DRM and crack the DRM if they do. This shouldn't be too difficult as you already cleared the hurdle of liberating your Amazon collection.
And this is why I purposefully do NOT tick the "add DRM" box when I publish my books and why purchasing on my direct store gives you pdf, epub, and mobi. I know how easy it is to remove drm and I just don't want my readers to have to deal w that hassle if they switch from one device to another. DRM doesn't stop pirates. It stops legitimate readers from being able to enjoy books how they want.
Thank you for saying this. It's nice to know you can publish your books on your store, without having to go through Amazon. I hope to be able to buy more direct from authors in the future vs Amazon! 😊
I totally agree with everything you said. I moved all my kindle books to my computer and converted them using calibre(took me 3 days) after Amazon deleted a couple of my books (actually stole them). I m waiting for my kobo to arrive.
My first device was a Sony Reader ( circa 2006, I think?). Loved the device, hated their software. Started using Calibre to organize the books I was buying from many different places (anybody remember Fictionwise?). Moved to a Kobo when I wore out my second Sony and they stopped making them. Chose a Kobo because the Amazon devices couldn't handle the wide range of file formats I needed. Bought a used Kindle, an older model, so I could get to the books I was increasingly getting from Amazon. Deliberately went for an older model so I could download in Amazon's older format, which I find in many cases converts more cleanly to epub. LOVE LOVE LOVE Calibre. I have almost 4700 books in my library.
Fictionwise! My first ereader was through them. It was expensive, and I had to make payments; or maybe it was a subscription. I still have the Librarian software on my computer, but I never finished converting my books for another platform. I eventually donated that ereader after I got a Kindle. I regret it, but it's a dinosaur.
Regarding owning e-books specifically, I think the e-book market is absolutely ridiculous both in terms of prices and the subscription/renting system they are under. I don't find them to be a solution to piracy for a lot of people. I found that the Kobo e-reader is the best option because you can add your own e-pub or pdf files into the e-reader. In this way you can build your own digital library of books which will not be taken away on a whim of one of the biggest and most unethical companies that ever existed. Bonus points, you are not giving money to Amazon either.
I love, love, love when the algorithm gods play in my favor. This was a video I needed to see that I didn’t know that I needed to see lol. I picked up a basic kindle back in February and fell in love with e-ink. Though I am entrenched in the apple ecosystem I am on an e-ink bunny trail for a notebook and now another e-reader that is NOT a kindle. Thank you for this great video. First time here and Liked & Sub’d.
Maybe worth pointing out that removing DRM is _explicitly_ prohibited in Amazon's terms of service so suggesting it in a public forum may not go down well with them and could lead to account suspension or, worst case, a lawsuit (that also applies to any viewers who decide to try it though you'll most likely not be worth the trouble of course). Just information BTW, not advice for or against :). DRM removal is also technically illegal in places like the US (thanks to flawed laws like the DMCA, perhaps ironically given your seemingly hardline stance on piracy). (the relevant part of the Kindle store user agreement is, "In addition, you may not attempt to bypass, modify, defeat, or otherwise circumvent any digital rights management system or other content protection or features used as part of the Service." which is a couple of paragraphs below another relevant passage, "Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by Amazon." - of course no one reads those which is presumably why it's apparently such a surprise to many here :)
Thank you for speaking the facts. I buy the book if I love the story. I'm not opposed to ebooks and have an older Kobo, but it's not my first choice, or second (audio books). I love Louis, and fully support right to repair. I'm on Louis side for basically all the same reasons he states. Technically you did NOT buy them, you subscribed to them (read the fine, fine, sub-sub clauses -- though loosely written, you'll find they not only own everything, but YOU also gave them permission to data mine your device (from what, when, where you read, to when and where you stop reading, etc.), and probably if not already, then soon all smart devices around you like modern cars do. I do NOT want people to steal books -- buy directly from the author; Please Do Not Pirate books from human Authors AND if you do, you better NOT complain when the authors are not publishing regularly because they're broke and have to get a job that takes them away from writing.
If you have the DRM-Free version of a electronic book you bought, then you own that as much as you own any paper copy. You can copy it, convert it to another format, modify it, etc. You can even hand the epub or whatever (DRM-free version) to a friend and they can read it. This is why I purposely leave the DRM off the books/stories I write under all my pen names.
Only if the book was bought DRM-free though and even then it's frowned upon because your sharing something they didn't buy which they could easily upload and share to other people
Another point of contention is borrowing and lending. When I first got my kindle fire (its been a minute) there was an option if you went online to share/lend a book you'd bought and downloaded with a friend. You could only let one person at a time borrow, for up to like two weeks. and while they were borrowing it, you could not access said book. Just like if you had a physical copy. You could lend those out to your hearts content. The last time I went in to do this, I noticed this option had been removed, without notice. Pretty messed up, honestly. The more I think of it, I think I'll be moving away from amazon digital and looking for other options. It was news to hear that they can remove something from your kindle shelves because they suddenly deem it.
Hey, we live in a world where carmakers charge monthly subscription fees for heated seats and where the Logitch CEO actually talks about a subscription mouse. Consumers -- especially in the U.S. -- need to learn and remember that they do NOT own any digital media; they've simply purchased the right to access the media that is controlled by the company they "bought" it from. I am actively working in my life to replace every "software as a service" app and avoiding any non-IT items that require a subscription after I've "bought" them. ESPECIALLY music, since the availability of music from any of the streaming services is totally subject to their contracts with music publishers & artists... and their financial health, and the operational decisions of their executives, and their occasional attempts at using DRM that prevents "purchased" music from being listened to in any other way. (Why yes, I *do* have a large CD and record collection, why do you ask...? LOL)
Love this video. If Calibre can send a book I purchased in epub format to my computer's download folder, then I can move those epubs to my external jump drive (aka passport) and have them with me wherever I am. Then, I can use the free Kindle Previewer that's on my desktop to read any epub I purchased. I'm going to check that out. THANKS for the heads up that books from my Amazon library can disappear.
This is one of the reasons why I like physical items. Because then I own it. And it is why I use Libby and buy free books or at leadt really cheap ebooks.
I quit buying books on Amazon and borrow from the library. I disliked both kindle and fire. I really liked the original kindle with its e-ink. I hate backlit books and so went to audio books. I think that not reading leads to dementia and have gone back to hard copies. The other issue is that the plastic on the devices broke or became sticky. Given Project 2025 I can easily see many books censored out of existence on many platforms. I liked Overdrive, but they changed it to Libby which is less functional.
Your point is well taken. Kobo is still my first and only ebook and I borrow many titles from the library. I believe creators should be well paid for their good works. Oh sure, I have downloaded digital content when there are few options. My excuses range from: 1. Can't hold a physical copy of a book because of a stroke brain injury 2. I'm on retirement disability, so a very minimal $0 book budget. 3. Kobo makes it easier to read with fewer visibility challenges with text size and lighting control. 4. Obscure, archival, or foreign titles without digital editions are sometimes available for download in .pdf or .epub. 5. Do the dead poets still receive royalties or is it just publishing profit? I do my best. Do the right thing. 😊
I've been working on backing up my books (a decade+ of deal hunting on Amazon) for this exact reason. It's tedious, but I've got about 3/4s of them saved to Calibre now.
That will be such a long process but I agree, it’s worth it. I’m only downloading the ones I loved or know I’ll re-read, which cuts down on the amount. But some people’s libraries are massive!
Which is why I ALWAYS keep a backup copy of all ebooks I bought on Amazon--or from any vendor, for that matter. Next move I'd make is to get an android-based e-ink ereader from China, so I can forgo with that "lease" nonsense.
I bought a book on kindle. Started reading it. And it disappeared. But the strange thing is I went to my Amazon orders. And it was gone too. That book disappeared from my previous order list. So there’s no record I ever even purchased it.
I recently put all my ebooks into calibre. It took a while because you can't batch download the kindle files. My main reason for doing it was so that the books couldn't be interfered with by, for example, having the cover changed or parts rewritten.
I figured this out when I bought a very weird and pretty awful book on kindle years ago. I decided to bring it back out for a book review I was putting together of various books with similar tropes and as I reread the book I was shocked to discover…it was completely different. Different plot, different villain, different ending. The opening chapter and the main character names were the only things the same. It was definitely a wtf moment because I felt like I was being gaslighted and the original book I read no longer existed to talk about. 😂
DeDRM all your books or “find” copies of them that are already in that state. If you paid for it, then neither of those actions are unethical and won’t result in any one or any company losing money.
This off topic, and I agree with you 100% on if you buy it, you own it! However, I wish to thank you for explaining why you cannot watch ‘Little Darlings’ anywhere unless you bought the VHS in the 80s. Yeah, it was the times that this movie was made, but I hate it when people censor me. Even my books.
Thank you for this! I feel like I am heard after all these years of reading on a Kobo Device. Most Kindle-People I was "preaching" to, where not recognizing the all- power Amazon holds over YOUR purchased eBooks. It's a topic worth to be discussed.
Its getting to be a huge question when it comes to things like tv shows and movies. If you go out and "buy" a movie on a digital store front it can be pulled from your library at any time without notice. At the same time companies are ramping down physical media production. Its happening everywhere.
I already knew about DRMs and proprietary software, but I have mostly shrugged at it because I felt like there wasn't much I could do other than purchase physical copies of the books I really cared about. Fast forward 18 years and I've lost the space I previously had for physical media, so now I'm looking at digital media (and how to better manage a growing collection) with fresh eyes.
I hate that with iTunes. I think if the company decides to withdraw the license to Apple, you lose your song you purchased. Also, this is why emulating games is so popular. Companies like Nintendo have gotten really used to charging customers again for the exact game they already have for the same game again on the new console when another one is released. So if you owned Tetris on the original Nintendo cartridge, then you’d have to buy it again for the next Nintendo they release. If there’s a next console even after that one, they’d probably make you buy it again too… and so on. If Tetris gets removed for some reason of the owners or even Nintendo, you don’t own it and it’s gone. This is why the emulation community is good. It’ll keep companies from owning your stuff and not you.
I think what is scarier than this is that companies can change the content of the books youve bought without telling you. They can literally rewrite the book you have read. 1984 anyone?
Especially children's books. Beatrix Potter, Enid Blyton, Dr Suess, Roald Dahl have all had their books tampered with. Even Agatha Christie's books have been "brought up to date". In other words, they have been censored.
I absolutely agree with you. Think about it this way. You buy a physical book. Someone from Amazon walks into your house and takes that book off of your coffee table. That's absolutely ridiculous. But, they have the absolute right to go into a device that YOU own and remove a book that you paid for and that's somehow OK? Sorry. We went through this with CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays too. I have converted every book, CD and movie in my house to a digital format. It all lives on an old PC set up as a media server. I can access it all from any of my way too many devices anywhere in my house and watch or read in any way that I want. I'm Canadian and we can only borrow library books on Kobo. I'm also a tech nerd and many of the books that I need are only available on Kindle. I use the Kindle app on a tablet if there are diagrams where colour matters. Everything else is on my Kobos. And now Kobo has colour! I'm waiting for the second gen colour Kobos and I'll buy one of those too.
Thank you so much for this enlightening information. I heard about Kobo the other day. Do they publish books, too? Or do I have to self-publish through Amazon then transfer the book to Kobo. In which case I need to know more about DRM (did I get that right?). Who owns my stuff? Such a good question.
I absolutely agree that if you purchased an ebook you should own it. I have Kindle, Nook and a Boox devices. I have used Calibre to make epub copies of all my Amazon purchases. As long as those books are used only by me and I am not sharing them I feel that it's completly legal and ethical. I don't mind paying for ebooks because I want to support the authors who wrote them. If I owned a paper copy it would be my possession. Like you I no longer want to have a bunch of physical objects taking up valuable space. I do like how physical books display on bookshelves but books take up a lot of room and so do shelves. The only other comment that I would make is that of the three devices I own Amazon makes the better device and it's not even close. I have never owned a Kobo but if they come out with a larger B&W version besides the Clara I might try one. Until then I'm good with what I have!!!
A month ago I wanted to buy a particular book. The price for the hardcover book was the same as the Amazon Kindle e-book. But I know when I no longer want to read the book I can sell or give my copy to anyone, which I can do with the hard-cover book. I do not have that right with Amazon Kindle. They charge full price but they retain *ownership* of the books they have loaned to me. I have both the Kindle app and the Kobo app on my Android tablet. I am not clear what the advantages of a Kobo or Android reader are over an Android tablet. They are the same size. They have the same weight. And the tablet is of course full color and also gives me the hundreds of other apps. My favorite publisher is Baen Books. As a policy they are opposed to Digital Rights Management. Indeed when I bought one of their hardcover books in a series of NYT best sellers they included a DVD which had e-book copies of every book in the series. They had recognized that anybody who was buying the new hard-cover had almost certainly bought all of the other books in the series but that technology had made ebooks a more portable version. I have several hundred books on Calibre.
I'm happy to see that more and more people are waking up to the reality of how companies like Amazon work. If you can not read the e-book on any device, if you can not download it, then you do not own it. Same goes for anything digital tbh. It sounds crazy and old fashioned, but physical copies are the best option for the users, no matter the media.
This is why I am still buying physical media. I buy books and cds and some vinyl. I look at ebooks as a convenience for when I am on the go. My main issue with Amazon is that with their Audlible books, the royalties and spotify aint any better.
I just got my first Kobo e-reader a couple of days ago. I'd always been with Amazon, and while my 2nd gen Oasis was still going strong I wanted a change. Picked up a Kobo Clara BW (don't care about color) and it took me days to transfer all my books from Amazon over to my Kobo using Calibre. Definitely don't like how walled off Amazon is and I'm not sorry to have moved to something else. The good thing is, I can still buy books from Aamazon moving forward and just use Calibre to put them onto my computer (and e-reader of choice). But also not having an Amazon e-reader means I also have many more options on where I can purchase my books from as epub is a pretty universal format with every other company that's not Amazon.
This is exactly the reason I buy/get files then strip the drm and reload to my kindle. My brother and I have even started creating an archive of media we have collected over the years so that when it becomes hard to come by (particularly a lot of classic Disney movies and tv shows, anyone heard of Parent Trap IV?) we will still have access to them. If I pay for something it is mine to use personally as I please, I will re-experiance it as many times as I like without someone else deciding how I do so. I also use my Paperwhite to read Libby books. I am a big proponent of using the library in addition to owning a curated selection.
Nice video with good discussion. Personally, I used to worry a lot about not "owning" my Kindle books, but I find it doesn't bother me as much anymore for two reasons. First, I do the vast majority of my reading (both ebook and book) through my public library, which is a collection that I do not own (and that I don't even have immediate access to) and that is much more out of my control than my Kindle library. Second, the vast majority of books I read I only read once, so if Amazon deleted my kindle library tomorrow I wouldn't really be that upset. Page turn buttons are the best. Also, I have a TON of games on Steam which I don't own, so maybe I'm just immune to this concern on a personality level?
I have owned a Kobo e-reader since the days of Waldenbooks and it selling Kobo e-readers in store. Kobo went above and beyond to replace that e-reader and that customer service has made me a customer for life.
Weird question, but if authors get paid based on page read through rates and you move the book to Calibre and then Kobo, isn’t that going to eat into the author’s Kindle payments? Or am I misunderstanding how that works?
So if I have purchased the license to download and read a certain book, and Amazon decides to remove that book AFTER I have downloaded it, should they refund me? They have, after all, now taken my money and not fulfilled the contract.
the DeDRM didn't work on my laptop, so I'm wondering if I need a newer laptop to get the latest up of Calibre to rid of DRM. Also, if you don't have Kindle but only have a Fire tablet, you can always donwload the books on your computer. I am allowed to download the books to the computer as long as your Fire tablet is registered and recognized by Amazon.
You should need anything up to date, it still works on my 2015 or so HP Envy and my 2017 Sueface Pro. Just make sure you have the most up to date version of calibre, you might have to check on the website
Nope, i've used deDRM on a mid 2010s Chromebook, a late noughties laptop, relatively ancient desktops etc. It's not _fast_ on that hardware but it does (eventually) work. Not sure what's going wrong for you but it's not related to how old your laptop is.
One thing that can be a problem is if your version of DeDRM is too old (it's not the fault of DeDRM, it's just that the DRM schemes evolve with time). It is particularly a problem because you don't have an "official" website for those kind of tools and the modern DeDRM is a fork called noDRM (right now, late august 2024, the latest and greatest is v10.0.9, a pre-release but very stable). Ensure you have a recent Calibre too though that may be impossible if you have an antique computer (more than 10 years old, with Windows 7/8 or MacOS older than 13.0)
I’m ordered a kobo as well but returned it because it looks “fuzzy”, like it has a haze… I don’t know if it is just me but it is not a clear crisp image like on the kindle. I even returned my kobo and got another to see if it was a bad copy but the second one was the same.
I’ve been wanting to get out of the Amazon ecosystem for a while for this reason. My husband and I have noticed some of our movies and tv shows missing from our prime account. I’m so happy that websites I order physical books from have ebook versions as well. Maybe time to make the switch!
I have Calibre to manage my reader and library. i have downloaded all my owned books. I also get .mobi from other free sources. Calibre is great to covert formats and removing drm on owned media
I've bought so many kindle books over the years that what you are saying worries me. I know about calibre but it would be a huge project. What especially bothers me is the unpublishing thing. I've noticed one thing about Amazon and to a degree about audible. If you buy a book or series and years later when you look it up in the store or website, it looks like the book doesn't exist. The whole series is just gone. You look up the authors name and no. I find my versions of the books or audios still exist even if nobody else can see them or buy them. Sometimes you have to dig for them. Using the actual title of the book brings up tItles you can't find by using the author's name. Sometimes it seems like they are just making it hard to find things. Now I'm wondering if I'm missing books.
What about giving a book or sharing a book you already have with someone else like we do in the physical world or what about selling an electronic book?
Good video. Some confusion with some people in the comments. The core idea is to [1] remove the DRM. You now own the file. [2] You can read it on what you like, e.g. Kindle, Kobo, or e-reader program on a computer *however* reading it on a Kindle is slightly more hassle cos you must convert it to their file format. And remember it will *not* be synched; it's just a file you're reading locally on a local device. Basically you need to do extra work to actually own your e-books; it's not hard, especially when you get used to the method, but most people will not want to do it. And that's what Amz are counting on.
@@tiannat6996 That's interesting, because so far the default message on my two Kindle e-book readers ["won't synch] has been correct for any de-drm'd e-book I've added; they don't synch. I don't use the Kindle app though, just the physical e-book readers, like the Paperwhite.
@Grunfeld that's one reason so far a lot of people have gone for that over kobo. I don't personally have one, im going the many people in the book groups I'm in. Unless you have to send them via the kindle email or add them to the app
This is exactly why I get most of my kindle ebooks as 99p deals. My library service charges 90p to reserve a book, so it feels comparable. If I end up loving a book, I look out for a physical copy.
Great video! I would love to get away from amazon. But all the non-fiction books I read & reference are not in Kobo’s library. Nor are those titles available via Libby.
It might have been legal but it was against the terms of your purchase, and no you don't own those books. You own a license to read them. With the DRM. With the device limitations
I think people need to check your legal advice with an actual lawyer in their own jurisdiction. I'm not a lawyer anywhere, but I am fairly sure that removing DRM is illegal in many jurisdictions including the US. On the other hand, if Amazon's practice of taking back purchases without offering a refund was tested in the courts most places I think there is a good chance it would be ruled illegal. I use a Boox eInk Android tablet with both Kindle and Kobo apps, although most of my library is on Kobo because I objected to Amazon's publishing practices from the start. But it is my strong belief that if you buy a book in any format including print and audio book, you should have the right to claim it at cost of reproduction, in any other format. You already paid the author for the content rights.
Yeah, removing DRM is _at least_ a grey area in many jurisdictions (and by "grey area" I mean, even if you're right Amazon's lawyers will bankrupt you if they so choose).
I've been screaming this for years, and I'm so glad people and influencers are talking about the problem with renting or leasing media under the guise of "owning" it. However, I don't agree with your perspective on piracy, I think there is genuine nuance in this conversation that you aren't giving a fair examination because of your bias as an author. Just saying it because you told me to "piss off."
For me personally I only buy the 99p deals and view it as a rental fee that can last a long time, so as long as i have read the book then I won't be too fussed as i cannot see myself re-reading many of my ebooks. If I really love a book enough that I want to re-read then I will go buy the physical copy but only when I actually want to read it again. The only downside for me is not being able to pass the ebook on or lend it out. For this reason alone I predominantly only buy the 99p deals. Also to save on space and to get the feel of a real book I go and use my local libraries from time to time.
I don't understand So the books I buy from the Kobo store are not a license, but rather a real purchase? Does that mean that they (Kobo) give me a file without Digital Rights Management (DRM) that I can use and have access to today or in 10 years?
This is a complex topic. According to copyright law covering digital media - you have the right to create 1 archival copy of your digital media. This way you have a backup. However - this does not mean Amazon/Sony/the industry has to allow you to make backups. Region locking of dvd/blueray disks is still legal, DRM still prevents you from making backups. Also - there is a special tax on every blank audio tape, video tape, blank CD, DVD, BluRay disks taken at the register and sent to to offset their losses due to piracy. This has been done since the 80's I believe? (Fact check this one). Even if you buy video tapes for home movies - you have paid the tax on piracy. Once you learn all the shenanigans that the industry has done - you realize the only person playing 'fair' and being 'ethical' is you.
I ditched the Evil Empire (Amazon) years ago. The only issue with Kobo is that their ebooks are way more expensive than Kindle ebooks, mainly because Amazon can afford to undercut the market.
i avoid anything jeff bezos.... that said sadly kindle books imo cheapest way to go. but i def interested in what u say in this video. i dont have many books on kindle. but the ones i do, i bought.i didnt sub and get them added free. i just paid the price. 4:40 rossman is funny and smart and yes passionate. its nice to hear someone talk nice about someone else. and yet not afraid to point out you dont agree with everything they say-think. and thats ok. that is rare for people sadly now
I use third party software to move my ebooks I bought to calibre so I can have them forever. The samething happens with movies and TV shows you purchase on Prime, Apple TV or Fandango. So I found a program that captures it and makes it into an MP4 and I can store it on a backup drive or burn it as a DVD. Technically it can be used to capture anything streaming so pirates use it. I don't pirate so I choose not to do it.
If you read the terms and conditions you will discover you never bought the book at all. Just licenced it. Even if the shopfront says "buy" and "sell," the terms of use specifically override the common use of these words. And they may revoke the licence at will.
The 'awakening' for me was turning on my Kindle one day to find Amazon had updated the cover of MY copy of The Martian, which pre-dated the movie, with Matt Damon's face. My initial rage was centered around it being akin to them entering my house and swapping out one of the books from my bookshelf; then it occurred to me that it wasn't comparable, because the book was never mine to begin with - I just thought it was.
Yea once anything in the ebook changes it updates the book on Kindle. That's why paperbacks are superior lol
If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing
Edit: I actually buy a copy of a book if I enjoyed reading it on the kindle.
Yes it is
Arrrr. It's a pirate's life for me.
you should just embrace it and say “thief’s life” instead of trying to romanticise it.
@@Chewbury Arrrr. It's a pirate's life for me.
@@Chewbury dude really loves the taste of the boot up his rear. Person can spend hundred of dollars "buying stuff online" but if the company decides to shut down the service, you lose all your stuff with no recourse. But that's okay with you apparently??
I hope you lose all your stuff
Stuff you buy from Kobo has DRM as well, so same the same. If you want to "own" those books, you have to remove the DRM from them as well.
Exactly! Every company of every digital mediia has DRM and has hoops to deDRM and preserve away from the purchased from company. This whole video just screams off bias and lack of research.
@@TheRitharuyep. The only thing I could say in Kobos favour is that epubs can be bought and used on many platforms. So I think you can buy ePubs and use them on a boox or kobo device for example. However, you couldn’t read your Kobo books on a kindle without removing the DRM.
@@TheRitharusmashwords doesn't, but I don't think the big name books are there
People purchase ebooks for Kobo?
@@shanghaichica The gamble is which of the "walled gardens" remains in business 10 years from now and which format persists. Right now finding dedrm for both formats is easy so removing the drm right away is the best strategy to eliminate the gamble. Again, I think the important thing to recognize is that you are in the same circumstance no matter which format you are using and to have a retention strategy that works for your situation and allows you to switch gardens whenever a compelling new device is released.
I have been removing DRM from all ebooks I buy for 10+ years. So it surprises me when I see others that aren’t aware of these limitations. Once you figure out how to remove it, and do it as you buy a book, the process becomes very easy to manage.
Absolutely. I buy everything if from Amazon and squirt the book onto my kobo via calibre.
One reason things have got to where we currently are in the world is that _most_ people cruise along unaware of _most_ things _most_ of the time. In some ways I envy that.
@@anonymes2884 at least this channel is bringing it to the attention to its 7000+ subscribers. Good job!
How do u remove DRM?
@@GJStone-tf7vl I use a program called Calibre (highly recommended for ebook curation). Then Google drm plugin. You should find plenty of links with tutorials.
Welcome to the resistance!! If you are moving to owning your ebooks I strongly recommend checking out the pocketbook readers, the don’t focus on trapping you in thier ecosystem, and are my ebook readers of choice.
I’ve never heard of pocketbook. I’ll have to check them out!
I had my eye-opening experience about "wait, we don't *own* the ebooks, we're just *renting* them??" when Microsoft closed down its ebook store. All the books people had bought went poof. They gave some amount of notice so those who wanted to keep their books could try to get downloaded copies, but basically, poof. I realized the same could happen any time with any of the ebooks and audiobooks. Amazon and Audible are unlikely to go bankrupt (never say never, but...) and they're unlikely to stop selling ebooks and audiobooks (again, never say never) so it's unlikely one would lose their entire library.
But the "banned book" problem is a real issue. I agree, if you bought it, and they unpublish it, no takesy-backsies (though then it gets a bit morally grey -- if they don't pay the author royalties on sales, when their work has been unpublished, but readers bought it, that means Amazon gets to pocket all the money and not just some of it. So should they refund the money back to readers and then take back the book? Or refund the money and you keep the book? Or...? It gets complicated. Except that we should be looking at it the same way as a bookseller selling physical books who decides not to sell those books anymore. If they can't take back the physical copy, they shouldn't be able to take back the ebook.
This!
I realize that digital media has unique problems not associated with physical media, but DRM and telling us that we're only licensing for the same price as buying a physical copy isn't the answer.
I am not accustomed to this. It makes me angry that I don't own what I paid for. For example, I have a circuit (cutting machine). When I purchased my Cricut, I could download files from different companies. The company changed its policy a year later, and I could no longer download files from other companies. It made me so angry. I now have a machine I no longer use because I will not download files from that company. If I could jailbreak my machine, I would have done it. I paid good money for that machine. I had a subscription, which I cancelled because of their new policy. I have many examples of companies who act like I am renting instead of making a purchase. They all make me angry.
“You will own nothing and you will be happy.” Look up that quote and be prepared to fall down a rabbit hole when you do. This is all planned.
@@tarabooartarmy3654 Yes, it's scary. I don't even have music subscriptions. I purchase a “CD” a month. Nothing is forever. What happens if a company goes bankrupt?
I'm glad you mentioned libraries. So few booktubers do. The library is a great source for movies as well.
... and all those "free" library books - my property taxes help pay for these - was my rationalization for buying a top-end eReader. And Kobo's ease of check-out decided it for me.
I didn't expect a Louis Rossmann crossover but I'm here for it. I'm glad to see more people recognizing the insanity of fake digital ownership, DRM, and other nonsense like that. Watering the grounds of competition is a good next step.
If you don't mind me saying a bit of a controversial opinion: the idea that all pirating is a unethical and a moral failing is a quite privileged one. Outside of the major anglophone countries like the USA, UK, Canada, etc books can be quite pricey for the average income or very hard to find (in particular new releases, either in English or in translated versions), in addition, libraries are either scarce or do not carry the type of books a lot of people want to read.
I pirate most of my books, and only once I start reading them and liking them, then I usually buy the physical copy to support the author. But that means having to order them online and pay shipping (and sometimes import) costs. That gets expensive! And I live in the EU with reasonable access to shipping and a above average income for my country (though below for the abovementioned countries). Imagine other countries that don't have those system, or have strong political censorship, or have very weak currencies and/or small salaries. In those situations a book can cost the price of an entire week's worth of meals. Are we to tell those people that they shouldn't have access to books? I don't agree with that.
Add to it the growing trend of companies thinking they can remove access or delete content that you have purchased, and piracy is the obvious answer. How much content - books, films, games, tv series - will be forever lost to corporate greed? That's what happens when everything is digital and subscription based. Pirating is a way to conserve art.
As for the typical argument "You are stealing money from the artists by pirating", it has several issues:
1- Most people who pirate won't buy the content. It's not a "lost sale" as the publishing industries like to say. It's either too expensive or completely inaccessible.
2- It's blaming the common people for the artists' unfair salaries instead of the rich publishing industries who are actually exploiting them.
3- The more people consume that content, the bigger its reach, the more people (who can afford it) will buy it. Just through word-of-mouth alone.
Edit: I've reached the point in your video where you tell people like me to piss off. Don't worry I'll be sure to not watch your content any longer but before that, your "solution" of using Overdrive/Libby is not feasible. Outside English speaking countries, this service is rare, if non-existent. So we are back again to the same solution. Either pirate or don't read at all.
I found that rather pompous myself.
I will pirate copies of things out of print that you can't find physical copies at a reasonable price.
The sales of those second hand items do not go to the author.
I usually do this for old RPG books that like I said are out of print.
I also buy bootleg DVDs of movies and shows that have never been released on DVD. Would I buy a legal copy if available hell yes but if the studio won't put one out then screw them.
I live in the US and I used to read ebooks from my library because they had a huge selection. Then I moved to a smaller county and their library selection of ebooks is pathetic. So no not everyone has access to good libraries.
Here in latinoamerica are people that reprint books and sell it for 1 or 2 dollars because buying it legally cost average 10-20 Dollars and that is a meal and dinner for a whole family, and we dont have nice librarys because people tend to steal the good books for themselves or they resell them
yeah i'll be out of this channel, but not bwfore i clicked like on this comment
It's the same with videogames. Piracy doesn't affect sales, nor does internet streaming for the games. If someone was going to buy the game, they will . If someone wasn't going to buy the game, they won't. No matter if they pirate it or not. In fact, sometimes pirating leads to someone buying the game when they were not even considering it.
I used to pirate all my games because I was a teen with no money. Now I am an adult with more money but I still refuse to pay 70€ a game, so I only buy games when they are complete and on sale. I don't pirate anymore, but I don't buy the same amount of games I used to pirate either. I stopped pirating because I started buying games, not the other way around.
You’re not “entitled” to something for free just because you can’t afford it. If you can’t afford it you can save your money until you can afford it. Why should an author have to give you their hard work for free just because you don’t have the money. You’re not entitled anything. If you can’t afford it work harder until you can.
physical media will always be king for consumer protection at least as long as corporations are allowed to do whatever they choose without facing any consequences.
Or digital media with no drm and open format. But yes, physical is more sure, even if they have a similar licence of use (e.g. you cannot copy a dvd or a book).
Oh, I hear you on the topic of ownership. Growing up in a specialist school with a library full of huge, hard-copy Braille books, I didn't get to actually own any books which I could read until well into adulthood. Now, for the first time in my life, I can buy and own books which I can convert to my format of choice and read on one of my Braille devices. I use a simple little programme called Codex (now no longer developed), which a felow blind person invented to do just this: strip the DRM and convert it to a format we can read in Braille on our device of choice. Kindle books have been getting increasingly difficult to strip and convert, hence my shift to Kobo. I'm currently enjoying Janet Frame's Omnibus autobiography, 'An Angel at my Table'. Thank you for your thoughts. I have subscribed.
The main reason people pirate is because they view it as easier than buying, not simply because it’s ‘cheaper’. This is why practically nobody pirates PC games anymore, because Steam made it much easier for consumers to buy games (especially with regular deep discount sales). But at the end of the day this still requires someone to publish the games to the Steam platform, which hasn’t happened for many older games, so people have to find other ways to get those games.
Plenty of out-of-print niche books only received physical publishing and haven’t had electronic releases for one reason and another, hell - as a student I had a real hard time finding some big-name philosophers’ lesser-known works in a format I as a visually impaired person could access ‘legally’. So when I can’t find an ebook for purchase I’m forced to access it another way. When a book series gets taken down from the kindle or kobo store and you’re only halfway through, where would you go to finish reading if it isn’t published anywhere else? Would you seriously just not finish the series?
Steam also has the benefit of being more pro-consumer than their competitors. There's a handful of games in my library that you can't buy anymore, for various reasons, on the Steam platform. Valve doesn't do what Amazon has done. Those games are still in my library. I can still play them. When EA flounced off the platform, for example, my access to Spore and Jade Empire didn't disappear. I could make a copy of the files to back them up without having to strip DRM out of them. This is why game companies have started to push live service or always online. They can force your Steam copy to be unusable by taking those servers offline, even if the entirety of the game could still function if you just patched the call to the server out.
Kobo and Amazon use the same logic of protecting content (aka "the books") with digital rights management (DRM). Basically, you don't buy the book, you just buy a licence to use the content. If you want to ensure that the books with DRM are yours forever, there is no other choice other than to remove the DRM to create one copy for personal use (which is legalish, as this is permitted in the licence agreement). Be aware though, that both Amazon and Kobo regularly update the reading software you use to read your books on PC/Mac and their devices (including the various flavours of Kindles and Kobos), and you will need to keep current with the software and plugins that allow you to remove DRM.
I totally agree, that the practice of using digital rights management is not consumer friendly. It is however not Amazon or Kobo that impose this on publishing houses or self-publishing authors. They can chose not to use DRM, if they wish to do so. For Amazon or Kobo to be able to yank an already purchased book-licence from your library without compensation, is the really worrying bit. Legally they should not be able to do this, as the licence you acquire is perpetual, but they have done it on a number of occasions, so just be aware of that and don't feel bad to remove DRM, as long as you don't share the now unprotected files and keep them strictly for your personal use. Then you can read them pretty much on any device.
Exactly! I’ve also been DeDRMing my ebooks for years, and it’s not just Amazon or ebooks, but all companies and all digital media. Like you said, it’s not the selling companies that impose many of these restrictions, but the publisher of the digital media.
Or you can just buy the books you want and then download a copy from a pirate site as backup with the DRM already permanently removed.
@@tarabooartarmy3654 In my opinion that would legitimize the distribution of pirated content. It's one thing to remove DRM from a digital book *I* bought and paid for and store a digital copy for my personal use but quit another to download a drm-free copy of a book you use, cause somebody put his or her DRM-free copy out there and does not respect the author (even if I bought a copy with DRM).
@@tarabooartarmy3654pirating (even if you already own a legal copy) is illegal and I would never advocate for that. Plus, it takes the same, if not less, effort to simply download the purchased copy. drag it into Calibre, and that alone strips the DRM and you have a saved copy offline.
@@TheRitharu I’ve done that and I’ve also had it fail to remove the DRM several times and it was frustrating. Whereas I can download the file already stripped and save the time. And it’s not illegal to download a copy of a book you already own. It’s only illegal to distribute them. It’s against the terms of most publishers’ rights, but that’s not a matter of legality. That’s a civil matter.
You own that stuff. You pay for it. You download it to your device. You don't need to switch devices. You remove the DRM lock on it and put it on your hard drive in an ebook organizer like Calibre. Wallah!!! You own it for life. The device is inconsequential. It's just like buying a physical copy of the book. I take it home. Amazon does not come and take it from my house. I'm not distributing my ebooks. They exist on my device only. That's my personal library. So don't feel bad about sideloading books onto your device.
I guess I’m old school, I just buy regular paper books. I like the ability to pass them on to friends or to resell them at a lower cost if they are ones that I don’t want to keep. I have a big enough house that I can do that. Three levels of storage space, so I can keep a few books around if I wish to reread them. At least this way if the weather takes out cell service and internet as it does sometimes in storms, I have a physical copy of something on hand to entertain myself.
If you wish to take a principled stand on owning your ebooks, ensure you only purchase DRM-free ebooks. The Kobo store has a whole section devote to DRM-free ebooks. Also any books you buy from Kobo that aren't in the DRM-free section, you may need to check to see if they have DRM and crack the DRM if they do. This shouldn't be too difficult as you already cleared the hurdle of liberating your Amazon collection.
And this is why I purposefully do NOT tick the "add DRM" box when I publish my books and why purchasing on my direct store gives you pdf, epub, and mobi. I know how easy it is to remove drm and I just don't want my readers to have to deal w that hassle if they switch from one device to another. DRM doesn't stop pirates. It stops legitimate readers from being able to enjoy books how they want.
Thank you for saying this. It's nice to know you can publish your books on your store, without having to go through Amazon. I hope to be able to buy more direct from authors in the future vs Amazon! 😊
I totally agree with everything you said. I moved all my kindle books to my computer and converted them using calibre(took me 3 days) after Amazon deleted a couple of my books (actually stole them). I m waiting for my kobo to arrive.
My first device was a Sony Reader ( circa 2006, I think?). Loved the device, hated their software. Started using Calibre to organize the books I was buying from many different places (anybody remember Fictionwise?). Moved to a Kobo when I wore out my second Sony and they stopped making them. Chose a Kobo because the Amazon devices couldn't handle the wide range of file formats I needed.
Bought a used Kindle, an older model, so I could get to the books I was increasingly getting from Amazon. Deliberately went for an older model so I could download in Amazon's older format, which I find in many cases converts more cleanly to epub. LOVE LOVE LOVE Calibre. I have almost 4700 books in my library.
Fictionwise! My first ereader was through them. It was expensive, and I had to make payments; or maybe it was a subscription. I still have the Librarian software on my computer, but I never finished converting my books for another platform. I eventually donated that ereader after I got a Kindle. I regret it, but it's a dinosaur.
Regarding owning e-books specifically, I think the e-book market is absolutely ridiculous both in terms of prices and the subscription/renting system they are under. I don't find them to be a solution to piracy for a lot of people.
I found that the Kobo e-reader is the best option because you can add your own e-pub or pdf files into the e-reader. In this way you can build your own digital library of books which will not be taken away on a whim of one of the biggest and most unethical companies that ever existed. Bonus points, you are not giving money to Amazon either.
I love, love, love when the algorithm gods play in my favor. This was a video I needed to see that I didn’t know that I needed to see lol. I picked up a basic kindle back in February and fell in love with e-ink. Though I am entrenched in the apple ecosystem I am on an e-ink bunny trail for a notebook and now another e-reader that is NOT a kindle. Thank you for this great video. First time here and Liked & Sub’d.
@@TheKurtLyon welcome! I have a few other videos about Boox devices (bigger than ereaders) and plan to make more
@@nonsensefreeeditor I am a Boox stan and recommend them over any Amazon or Kobo device.
Maybe worth pointing out that removing DRM is _explicitly_ prohibited in Amazon's terms of service so suggesting it in a public forum may not go down well with them and could lead to account suspension or, worst case, a lawsuit (that also applies to any viewers who decide to try it though you'll most likely not be worth the trouble of course). Just information BTW, not advice for or against :).
DRM removal is also technically illegal in places like the US (thanks to flawed laws like the DMCA, perhaps ironically given your seemingly hardline stance on piracy).
(the relevant part of the Kindle store user agreement is, "In addition, you may not attempt to bypass, modify, defeat, or otherwise circumvent any digital rights management system or other content protection or features used as part of the Service." which is a couple of paragraphs below another relevant passage, "Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by Amazon." - of course no one reads those which is presumably why it's apparently such a surprise to many here :)
I donate to Ana (iykyk) and FOSS (such as the Calibre app) instead of paying for DRM'ed books on Kindle or Kobo, and everyone should do the same.
Thank you for speaking the facts.
I buy the book if I love the story. I'm not opposed to ebooks and have an older Kobo, but it's not my first choice, or second (audio books).
I love Louis, and fully support right to repair. I'm on Louis side for basically all the same reasons he states.
Technically you did NOT buy them, you subscribed to them (read the fine, fine, sub-sub clauses -- though loosely written, you'll find they not only own everything, but YOU also gave them permission to data mine your device (from what, when, where you read, to when and where you stop reading, etc.), and probably if not already, then soon all smart devices around you like modern cars do.
I do NOT want people to steal books -- buy directly from the author; Please Do Not Pirate books from human Authors AND if you do, you better NOT complain when the authors are not publishing regularly because they're broke and have to get a job that takes them away from writing.
If you have the DRM-Free version of a electronic book you bought, then you own that as much as you own any paper copy. You can copy it, convert it to another format, modify it, etc. You can even hand the epub or whatever (DRM-free version) to a friend and they can read it.
This is why I purposely leave the DRM off the books/stories I write under all my pen names.
Only if the book was bought DRM-free though and even then it's frowned upon because your sharing something they didn't buy which they could easily upload and share to other people
@@tiannat6996 Some peopel frown on lending your own printed books too. Some people frown on libraries. The frowners can eff off.
Another point of contention is borrowing and lending. When I first got my kindle fire (its been a minute) there was an option if you went online to share/lend a book you'd bought and downloaded with a friend. You could only let one person at a time borrow, for up to like two weeks. and while they were borrowing it, you could not access said book. Just like if you had a physical copy. You could lend those out to your hearts content. The last time I went in to do this, I noticed this option had been removed, without notice.
Pretty messed up, honestly. The more I think of it, I think I'll be moving away from amazon digital and looking for other options. It was news to hear that they can remove something from your kindle shelves because they suddenly deem it.
Hey, we live in a world where carmakers charge monthly subscription fees for heated seats and where the Logitch CEO actually talks about a subscription mouse. Consumers -- especially in the U.S. -- need to learn and remember that they do NOT own any digital media; they've simply purchased the right to access the media that is controlled by the company they "bought" it from. I am actively working in my life to replace every "software as a service" app and avoiding any non-IT items that require a subscription after I've "bought" them. ESPECIALLY music, since the availability of music from any of the streaming services is totally subject to their contracts with music publishers & artists... and their financial health, and the operational decisions of their executives, and their occasional attempts at using DRM that prevents "purchased" music from being listened to in any other way. (Why yes, I *do* have a large CD and record collection, why do you ask...? LOL)
I borrow all of the books I read on my Kindle from the library. I've reread a couple of books this way. Very convenient and free.
This is not available in Canada.
This is what I have done since the beginning of this year.
Love this video. If Calibre can send a book I purchased in epub format to my computer's download folder, then I can move those epubs to my external jump drive (aka passport) and have them with me wherever I am. Then, I can use the free Kindle Previewer that's on my desktop to read any epub I purchased. I'm going to check that out. THANKS for the heads up that books from my Amazon library can disappear.
This is one of the reasons why I like physical items. Because then I own it. And it is why I use Libby and buy free books or at leadt really cheap ebooks.
Same with music and movies. Download, strip drm and save on an external drive. That's what I do.
I quit buying books on Amazon and borrow from the library. I disliked both kindle and fire. I really liked the original kindle with its e-ink. I hate backlit books and so went to audio books. I think that not reading leads to dementia and have gone back to hard copies.
The other issue is that the plastic on the devices broke or became sticky.
Given Project 2025 I can easily see many books censored out of existence on many platforms.
I liked Overdrive, but they changed it to Libby which is less functional.
Not many readers know this. Well said! Great video!
It’s a real eye opener once you realize how little control you have over your own stuff
Your point is well taken. Kobo is still my first and only ebook and I borrow many titles from the library.
I believe creators should be well paid for their good works. Oh sure, I have downloaded digital content when there are few options.
My excuses range from:
1. Can't hold a physical copy of a book because of a stroke brain injury
2. I'm on retirement disability, so a very minimal $0 book budget.
3. Kobo makes it easier to read with fewer visibility challenges with text size and lighting control.
4. Obscure, archival, or foreign titles without digital editions are sometimes available for download in .pdf or .epub.
5. Do the dead poets still receive royalties or is it just publishing profit?
I do my best. Do the right thing. 😊
I've been working on backing up my books (a decade+ of deal hunting on Amazon) for this exact reason. It's tedious, but I've got about 3/4s of them saved to Calibre now.
That will be such a long process but I agree, it’s worth it. I’m only downloading the ones I loved or know I’ll re-read, which cuts down on the amount. But some people’s libraries are massive!
You mentioned at 2:44 about jumping through hoops, and you’re wearing big hoop earnings. Maybe you matching your accessories to video topic?😊
😂 nah just a 90s girl who loves her hoops
Which is why I ALWAYS keep a backup copy of all ebooks I bought on Amazon--or from any vendor, for that matter. Next move I'd make is to get an android-based e-ink ereader from China, so I can forgo with that "lease" nonsense.
I bought a book on kindle. Started reading it. And it disappeared. But the strange thing is I went to my Amazon orders. And it was gone too. That book disappeared from my previous order list. So there’s no record I ever even purchased it.
“you’ll own nothing and be happy” … c’mon, people! I’m gonna get me a Kobo!
I recently put all my ebooks into calibre. It took a while because you can't batch download the kindle files. My main reason for doing it was so that the books couldn't be interfered with by, for example, having the cover changed or parts rewritten.
Kobo is also much better for authors. Amazon is . . . kind of a jerk.
I figured this out when I bought a very weird and pretty awful book on kindle years ago. I decided to bring it back out for a book review I was putting together of various books with similar tropes and as I reread the book I was shocked to discover…it was completely different. Different plot, different villain, different ending. The opening chapter and the main character names were the only things the same. It was definitely a wtf moment because I felt like I was being gaslighted and the original book I read no longer existed to talk about. 😂
DeDRM all your books or “find” copies of them that are already in that state. If you paid for it, then neither of those actions are unethical and won’t result in any one or any company losing money.
im new here and i have to say i love your voice! its giving radio drama im so here for it lol
lol thank you!
This off topic, and I agree with you 100% on if you buy it, you own it! However, I wish to thank you for explaining why you cannot watch ‘Little Darlings’ anywhere unless you bought the VHS in the 80s. Yeah, it was the times that this movie was made, but I hate it when people censor me. Even my books.
Thank you for this! I feel like I am heard after all these years of reading on a Kobo Device. Most Kindle-People I was "preaching" to, where not recognizing the all- power Amazon holds over YOUR purchased eBooks. It's a topic worth to be discussed.
Its getting to be a huge question when it comes to things like tv shows and movies. If you go out and "buy" a movie on a digital store front it can be pulled from your library at any time without notice. At the same time companies are ramping down physical media production. Its happening everywhere.
I already knew about DRMs and proprietary software, but I have mostly shrugged at it because I felt like there wasn't much I could do other than purchase physical copies of the books I really cared about. Fast forward 18 years and I've lost the space I previously had for physical media, so now I'm looking at digital media (and how to better manage a growing collection) with fresh eyes.
I hate that with iTunes. I think if the company decides to withdraw the license to Apple, you lose your song you purchased. Also, this is why emulating games is so popular. Companies like Nintendo have gotten really used to charging customers again for the exact game they already have for the same game again on the new console when another one is released. So if you owned Tetris on the original Nintendo cartridge, then you’d have to buy it again for the next Nintendo they release. If there’s a next console even after that one, they’d probably make you buy it again too… and so on. If Tetris gets removed for some reason of the owners or even Nintendo, you don’t own it and it’s gone. This is why the emulation community is good. It’ll keep companies from owning your stuff and not you.
I think what is scarier than this is that companies can change the content of the books youve bought without telling you. They can literally rewrite the book you have read.
1984 anyone?
Especially children's books. Beatrix Potter, Enid Blyton, Dr Suess, Roald Dahl have all had their books tampered with. Even Agatha Christie's books have been "brought up to date". In other words, they have been censored.
I buy all of my ebooks legitimately. I also strip the drm from them. I’ve paid for it - it’s mine.
I absolutely agree with you. Think about it this way. You buy a physical book. Someone from Amazon walks into your house and takes that book off of your coffee table. That's absolutely ridiculous. But, they have the absolute right to go into a device that YOU own and remove a book that you paid for and that's somehow OK? Sorry. We went through this with CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays too. I have converted every book, CD and movie in my house to a digital format. It all lives on an old PC set up as a media server. I can access it all from any of my way too many devices anywhere in my house and watch or read in any way that I want.
I'm Canadian and we can only borrow library books on Kobo. I'm also a tech nerd and many of the books that I need are only available on Kindle. I use the Kindle app on a tablet if there are diagrams where colour matters. Everything else is on my Kobos. And now Kobo has colour! I'm waiting for the second gen colour Kobos and I'll buy one of those too.
Thank you so much for this enlightening information. I heard about Kobo the other day. Do they publish books, too? Or do I have to self-publish through Amazon then transfer the book to Kobo. In which case I need to know more about DRM (did I get that right?). Who owns my stuff? Such a good question.
Kobo has their own publishing section.
You can publish your book straight onto the kobo software
I absolutely agree that if you purchased an ebook you should own it. I have Kindle, Nook and a Boox devices. I have used Calibre to make epub copies of all my Amazon purchases. As long as those books are used only by me and I am not sharing them I feel that it's completly legal and ethical. I don't mind paying for ebooks because I want to support the authors who wrote them. If I owned a paper copy it would be my possession. Like you I no longer want to have a bunch of physical objects taking up valuable space. I do like how physical books display on bookshelves but books take up a lot of room and so do shelves. The only other comment that I would make is that of the three devices I own Amazon makes the better device and it's not even close. I have never owned a Kobo but if they come out with a larger B&W version besides the Clara I might try one. Until then I'm good with what I have!!!
A month ago I wanted to buy a particular book. The price for the hardcover book was the same as the Amazon Kindle e-book. But I know when I no longer want to read the book I can sell or give my copy to anyone, which I can do with the hard-cover book. I do not have that right with Amazon Kindle. They charge full price but they retain *ownership* of the books they have loaned to me.
I have both the Kindle app and the Kobo app on my Android tablet. I am not clear what the advantages of a Kobo or Android reader are over an Android tablet. They are the same size. They have the same weight. And the tablet is of course full color and also gives me the hundreds of other apps.
My favorite publisher is Baen Books. As a policy they are opposed to Digital Rights Management. Indeed when I bought one of their hardcover books in a series of NYT best sellers they included a DVD which had e-book copies of every book in the series. They had recognized that anybody who was buying the new hard-cover had almost certainly bought all of the other books in the series but that technology had made ebooks a more portable version. I have several hundred books on Calibre.
I use the kindle app on iPhone and iPad. I really like the chapter and book estimated times.
You can have that info on Kobo.
@@kathyw.1835 Aww, I don't see that in the app.
Also, I just checked the MacOS App Store and Calibre doesn't show up.
I’ve set the settings on my Kindle to show the cover of the book I’m reading as the sleep screen
I'm happy to see that more and more people are waking up to the reality of how companies like Amazon work. If you can not read the e-book on any device, if you can not download it, then you do not own it. Same goes for anything digital tbh. It sounds crazy and old fashioned, but physical copies are the best option for the users, no matter the media.
This is why I am still buying physical media. I buy books and cds and some vinyl. I look at ebooks as a convenience for when I am on the go.
My main issue with Amazon is that with their Audlible books, the royalties and spotify aint any better.
I just got my first Kobo e-reader a couple of days ago. I'd always been with Amazon, and while my 2nd gen Oasis was still going strong I wanted a change. Picked up a Kobo Clara BW (don't care about color) and it took me days to transfer all my books from Amazon over to my Kobo using Calibre. Definitely don't like how walled off Amazon is and I'm not sorry to have moved to something else. The good thing is, I can still buy books from Aamazon moving forward and just use Calibre to put them onto my computer (and e-reader of choice). But also not having an Amazon e-reader means I also have many more options on where I can purchase my books from as epub is a pretty universal format with every other company that's not Amazon.
This is exactly the reason I buy/get files then strip the drm and reload to my kindle. My brother and I have even started creating an archive of media we have collected over the years so that when it becomes hard to come by (particularly a lot of classic Disney movies and tv shows, anyone heard of Parent Trap IV?) we will still have access to them. If I pay for something it is mine to use personally as I please, I will re-experiance it as many times as I like without someone else deciding how I do so.
I also use my Paperwhite to read Libby books. I am a big proponent of using the library in addition to owning a curated selection.
Nice video with good discussion. Personally, I used to worry a lot about not "owning" my Kindle books, but I find it doesn't bother me as much anymore for two reasons. First, I do the vast majority of my reading (both ebook and book) through my public library, which is a collection that I do not own (and that I don't even have immediate access to) and that is much more out of my control than my Kindle library. Second, the vast majority of books I read I only read once, so if Amazon deleted my kindle library tomorrow I wouldn't really be that upset.
Page turn buttons are the best.
Also, I have a TON of games on Steam which I don't own, so maybe I'm just immune to this concern on a personality level?
I think of all the books I have gotten that got taken to a used bookstore or donated. Not much different. If I love it, I buy a hard copy.
Amazon can't mess with things when I just leave it in airplane mode and manage all my own books with Claibre.
I have owned a Kobo e-reader since the days of Waldenbooks and it selling Kobo e-readers in store. Kobo went above and beyond to replace that e-reader and that customer service has made me a customer for life.
Weird question, but if authors get paid based on page read through rates and you move the book to Calibre and then Kobo, isn’t that going to eat into the author’s Kindle payments? Or am I misunderstanding how that works?
Thank you for being as open as... a book 😊
Thank you for this video…does Libby work with the Kobo?
In most countries yes, way more than the kindle does which only supports the US.
It has overdrive/libby built in
I picked up the Boox Oasis copy, the Go Colour 7, and I love it. Reviewing it for my channel soon!
I'm gobsmacked. Great video!
Thank you!
So if I have purchased the license to download and read a certain book, and Amazon decides to remove that book AFTER I have downloaded it, should they refund me? They have, after all, now taken my money and not fulfilled the contract.
the DeDRM didn't work on my laptop, so I'm wondering if I need a newer laptop to get the latest up of Calibre to rid of DRM. Also, if you don't have Kindle but only have a Fire tablet, you can always donwload the books on your computer. I am allowed to download the books to the computer as long as your Fire tablet is registered and recognized by Amazon.
You should need anything up to date, it still works on my 2015 or so HP Envy and my 2017 Sueface Pro.
Just make sure you have the most up to date version of calibre, you might have to check on the website
Nope, i've used deDRM on a mid 2010s Chromebook, a late noughties laptop, relatively ancient desktops etc. It's not _fast_ on that hardware but it does (eventually) work.
Not sure what's going wrong for you but it's not related to how old your laptop is.
One thing that can be a problem is if your version of DeDRM is too old (it's not the fault of DeDRM, it's just that the DRM schemes evolve with time). It is particularly a problem because you don't have an "official" website for those kind of tools and the modern DeDRM is a fork called noDRM (right now, late august 2024, the latest and greatest is v10.0.9, a pre-release but very stable). Ensure you have a recent Calibre too though that may be impossible if you have an antique computer (more than 10 years old, with Windows 7/8 or MacOS older than 13.0)
The term "buy" is misleading. If the company wants to retain ownership and control of media content then they should use the term "lease".
I’m ordered a kobo as well but returned it because it looks “fuzzy”, like it has a haze… I don’t know if it is just me but it is not a clear crisp image like on the kindle. I even returned my kobo and got another to see if it was a bad copy but the second one was the same.
I’ve been wanting to get out of the Amazon ecosystem for a while for this reason. My husband and I have noticed some of our movies and tv shows missing from our prime account. I’m so happy that websites I order physical books from have ebook versions as well. Maybe time to make the switch!
I have Calibre to manage my reader and library. i have downloaded all my owned books. I also get .mobi from other free sources. Calibre is great to covert formats and removing drm on owned media
I've bought so many kindle books over the years that what you are saying worries me. I know about calibre but it would be a huge project. What especially bothers me is the unpublishing thing. I've noticed one thing about Amazon and to a degree about audible. If you buy a book or series and years later when you look it up in the store or website, it looks like the book doesn't exist. The whole series is just gone. You look up the authors name and no. I find my versions of the books or audios still exist even if nobody else can see them or buy them. Sometimes you have to dig for them. Using the actual title of the book brings up tItles you can't find by using the author's name. Sometimes it seems like they are just making it hard to find things. Now I'm wondering if I'm missing books.
this is why I use Calibre on my laptop and remove DRM from every book
What about giving a book or sharing a book you already have with someone else like we do in the physical world or what about selling an electronic book?
Good video. Some confusion with some people in the comments. The core idea is to [1] remove the DRM. You now own the file. [2] You can read it on what you like, e.g. Kindle, Kobo, or e-reader program on a computer *however* reading it on a Kindle is slightly more hassle cos you must convert it to their file format. And remember it will *not* be synched; it's just a file you're reading locally on a local device. Basically you need to do extra work to actually own your e-books; it's not hard, especially when you get used to the method, but most people will not want to do it. And that's what Amz are counting on.
Sideloaded books on kindle do sync with the app, but kobo doesn't
@@tiannat6996 That's interesting, because so far the default message on my two Kindle e-book readers ["won't synch] has been correct for any de-drm'd e-book I've added; they don't synch. I don't use the Kindle app though, just the physical e-book readers, like the Paperwhite.
@Grunfeld that's one reason so far a lot of people have gone for that over kobo.
I don't personally have one, im going the many people in the book groups I'm in.
Unless you have to send them via the kindle email or add them to the app
This is exactly why I get most of my kindle ebooks as 99p deals. My library service charges 90p to reserve a book, so it feels comparable. If I end up loving a book, I look out for a physical copy.
Calibre free software is the way to go.
Great video! I would love to get away from amazon. But all the non-fiction books I read & reference are not in Kobo’s library. Nor are those titles available via Libby.
Ah. Huh. Good point. Ok, I'm off to make a list of my favourite books and slowly start purchasing physical copies of them.
It might have been legal but it was against the terms of your purchase, and no you don't own those books. You own a license to read them. With the DRM. With the device limitations
this is what I always felt about digital music and movies.
I think people need to check your legal advice with an actual lawyer in their own jurisdiction. I'm not a lawyer anywhere, but I am fairly sure that removing DRM is illegal in many jurisdictions including the US. On the other hand, if Amazon's practice of taking back purchases without offering a refund was tested in the courts most places I think there is a good chance it would be ruled illegal. I use a Boox eInk Android tablet with both Kindle and Kobo apps, although most of my library is on Kobo because I objected to Amazon's publishing practices from the start. But it is my strong belief that if you buy a book in any format including print and audio book, you should have the right to claim it at cost of reproduction, in any other format. You already paid the author for the content rights.
Yeah, removing DRM is _at least_ a grey area in many jurisdictions (and by "grey area" I mean, even if you're right Amazon's lawyers will bankrupt you if they so choose).
I made the switch a few years ago and I'm happy I did.
I've been screaming this for years, and I'm so glad people and influencers are talking about the problem with renting or leasing media under the guise of "owning" it.
However, I don't agree with your perspective on piracy, I think there is genuine nuance in this conversation that you aren't giving a fair examination because of your bias as an author. Just saying it because you told me to "piss off."
For me personally I only buy the 99p deals and view it as a rental fee that can last a long time, so as long as i have read the book then I won't be too fussed as i cannot see myself re-reading many of my ebooks. If I really love a book enough that I want to re-read then I will go buy the physical copy but only when I actually want to read it again. The only downside for me is not being able to pass the ebook on or lend it out. For this reason alone I predominantly only buy the 99p deals. Also to save on space and to get the feel of a real book I go and use my local libraries from time to time.
I don't understand
So the books I buy from the Kobo store are not a license, but rather a real purchase? Does that mean that they (Kobo) give me a file without Digital Rights Management (DRM) that I can use and have access to today or in 10 years?
quick question are kindle in the US the only kindle that show adds ?! I am not my the US and my kindle never show any adds
i’m in latin america and get ads
This is a complex topic. According to copyright law covering digital media - you have the right to create 1 archival copy of your digital media. This way you have a backup. However - this does not mean Amazon/Sony/the industry has to allow you to make backups. Region locking of dvd/blueray disks is still legal, DRM still prevents you from making backups. Also - there is a special tax on every blank audio tape, video tape, blank CD, DVD, BluRay disks taken at the register and sent to to offset their losses due to piracy. This has been done since the 80's I believe? (Fact check this one). Even if you buy video tapes for home movies - you have paid the tax on piracy. Once you learn all the shenanigans that the industry has done - you realize the only person playing 'fair' and being 'ethical' is you.
If i buy, i own. Corporations can go pound sand
I ditched the Evil Empire (Amazon) years ago. The only issue with Kobo is that their ebooks are way more expensive than Kindle ebooks, mainly because Amazon can afford to undercut the market.
So those who purchased those deleted books aren’t given a refund? How is it any different then a forcible recall?
i avoid anything jeff bezos....
that said sadly kindle books imo cheapest way to go. but i def interested in what u say in this video. i dont have many books on kindle. but the ones i do, i bought.i didnt sub and get them added free. i just paid the price.
4:40 rossman is funny and smart and yes passionate.
its nice to hear someone talk nice about someone else. and yet not afraid to point out you dont agree with everything they say-think. and thats ok.
that is rare for people sadly now
I use third party software to move my ebooks I bought to calibre so I can have them forever.
The samething happens with movies and TV shows you purchase on Prime, Apple TV or Fandango. So I found a program that captures it and makes it into an MP4 and I can store it on a backup drive or burn it as a DVD. Technically it can be used to capture anything streaming so pirates use it. I don't pirate so I choose not to do it.
All the books i read are on kindle unlimited so im definitely only borrowing the books
If you read the terms and conditions you will discover you never bought the book at all. Just licenced it. Even if the shopfront says "buy" and "sell," the terms of use specifically override the common use of these words. And they may revoke the licence at will.