eBooks are quite the conundrum. Because they’re digital copies of an “original” digital file, most readers don’t own their ebooks but are just licensed to view the copy. So, readers can’t lend out or resell their ebooks, like they could a print version. But that might change.
Since 2011, Amazon has been filing patents in the United States and Canada around setting up a marketplace for used ebooks. In January 16, they filed a 46-page document with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office which outlines their plans in more detail…
If Amazon is able to set up this used ebooks marketplace, then we might be forced to rethink how we view these digital copies. Read more at my guest post at Libfocus.
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