Amazon Charging Users For Free eBooks

eBooks may be cheaper than their hardback counterparts, but that doesn't mean you should assume you're getting a good deal. As the Washington Post reports, Amazon has been charging Kindle users to download books, which are in the public domain, that could easily and legally be downloaded elsewhere free of charge and in almost identical formats.

"The titles in question aren't just public-domain books that have long been freely available at such sites as Project Gutenberg," writes the Washington Post. "They appear to be the exact Gutenberg files, save only for minor formatting adjustments and the removal of that volunteer-run site's license information."

Books like "Canadian Wilds" --minus references to Project Gutenberg, but with the addition of a $3.69 pricetag--have appeared on Amazon's e-bookshelf just a day after being uploaded to Gutenberg.

While Amazon is taking a cut from the sale of the books, it is not directly responsible for uploading the Gutenberg titles. For this, third parties using Amazon's self-service publishing platform can be thanked.

The practice is completely legal--Project Gutenberg says in an explanation of its license, "If you strip the Project Gutenberg license and all references to Project Gutenberg from the ebook, you are left with a public domain ebook. You can do anything you want with that."

Yet as one Gutenberg contributor told the Post, preparing a text for Gutenberg requires a number of steps, from scanning the text to fixing mistakes to formatting the book properly, and some have mixed feelings about Amazon taking their digitized titles at zero cost, repurposing them, and then profiting off of the organization's work.

An alternative would be for Amazon to offer the Gutenberg texts at no cost to its users, as Apple currently does in its iBooks store. Users also have the option of downloading titles directly from the Gutenberg Project's website, rather than using Amazon's digital storefront.

How do you think Amazon should handle this issue? Weigh in below.

Comments

[MediaMover]

11:45 AM on 01/13/2011

Wow, very slanted and misinformed article. Clearly states near the beginning that Amazon is NOT responsible for what 3rd party sellers do and then near the conclusion again blames Amazon for what 3rd party sellers on their site do.

Most public domain books are free on Amazon. I have never seen Amazon itself selling any books that are from Gutenberg. It's quite rare that I can't find a title free, but when Amazon hasn't posted them, I am still free to go to Gutenberg myself.

I would suggest that HP contributors might want to do a bit more research before quoting another innacurate article just because it was writen for a major newspaper.

I have over 1,000 books on my Kindle and I paid nothing or less than a dollar for about 75% of them. No more tired eyes or cramped hands from trying to read on a backlit screen or holding a heavy book.

[donnabella]

05:30 AM on 12/05/2010

I'm really impressed with the ibooks app on my ipad. No more cramped hands or trying to balance a book in my lap so I can read the text. Being able to download "free" books for free: priceless...

[noob1]

12:39 PM on 12/04/2010

Thanks for nothing, eh?

[Sunzuki]

10:48 AM on 12/04/2010

Disgusting, Amazon is just another greedy company ripping off it's customers.

[MediaMover]

11:45 AM on 01/13/2011

And you believe everything you read on the internet, right? Greedy companies... you're right, every company should be a registered charity. LOL

[iamvalid]

10:31 AM on 12/04/2010

I am so sorry that I ever bought a Kindle. It is for the most part, mainly hype. The case is cheap and prone to cracks, PDF support still sucks. Add to the fact that Amazon is grubbing for every nickel,dime and quarter they can get there hands on. Oh wow, you can read it in direct sunlight. I'm going to have to rethink my whole Bezos/Amazon relationship.

[loki]

02:07 AM on 12/04/2010

the gov even creates laws to enforce this same behavior. Not to many years ago, your community was able to buy natural gas off the well head. Pay storage fees and use it when winter came. Then, back in the Bush co years, they invented the federally required 3rd party brokerage. Now, you have to pay that 3rd party and extra fee, for the same gas, and another extra fee, for the same storage, and this makes the well connected 3rd party brokerage services a lot of money, and increases the price of natural gas to you. And its not just natgas, its propane, and many other things beyond energy. Many products are now forced through a 3rd party, making free money for them, and higher prices for us. Its not what you know, kits who you know in congress and on wall street that makes the laws we pay for dearly.

[Doug Kueffler]

05:37 PM on 12/03/2010

There are several sites that offer free downloads of books. Just have to look for them. Amazon is in business to make money, so I have no issue with them doing so. Buyer Beware may be an old old adage, but it rings more true than ever in the cyber commerce age.

[Fabini]

03:32 PM on 12/03/2010

I have a number of religious e-books available on Amazon and Apple. I did not write the original texts. Those texts are available in various forms to whomever searches them out. The question here is, should I be allowed to sell my versions of these texts? Should I be allowed to profit? In a word, yes.

Without the profit motive, the world comes to a halt.

[Cassandrawept]

02:28 AM on 12/03/2010

The books should be clearly labeled with original copyright date and author's name. Gutenberg can equire all dirivative works be labeled as such. Because whwn the process the book for publication,they add copyright-able value.

[Joe Moore]

05:03 PM on 12/02/2010

It makes me reconsider the Kindle....which I was all set to buy soon. I don't like practices like this. I know all businesses have their less than savory practices, but when you take something that is free, and has been prepared by someone else and then sell it for total profit that's just shady, and goes against what I feel is an ethical business practice.

[ValdaDeDieu]

05:58 PM on 12/02/2010

I have to think about the subject some more--particularly as I am an Amazon.com author myself.

FREE is always nice. Yet when you think of it, we always pay, one way or another, for convenience, etc...

You can have an orange for free from your back yard, or go to the store and pay for some orange juice. When you really think about it, everything we pay for is repackaging, positioning, re-purposing and convenience--of some sort...

Amazon won't remain the giant forever. e-publishing is exploding, and is the next huge industry. Competition always serves to make matters more equitable.

[moutonnoir]

01:00 AM on 12/03/2010

you do know what public domain means you know of the Gutenberg project?

this is the online equivalent of scam artists trying to charge for free newspapers, free event tickets, etc.

arguing that 'well, nothing is free' in this instance is totally a questionable position, and in my opinion you should rethink it.

[loki]

02:10 AM on 12/04/2010

kindle isn't the only game in town. There are many other ways to get electronic books. Samsung, Ipad[if you want to be one of them types] and even your good old PC or smartphone can do it. Ive been downloading from, and donating too, from Gutenberg press for a very long time and even though Im a Amazon customer, I will not pay them for a book they have no legal right to beyond providing a 3rd party porthole.

[nfatt1]

01:29 PM on 12/02/2010

We have been kindled !

[jasev01]

11:15 AM on 12/02/2010

oh here it is the liberal counterattack on amazon for stopping the hosting of wikileaks.  Newsflash its a free market if you don't want to pay for the free book then don't.  No one is forcing you.

[GlassMask]

10:46 AM on 12/02/2010

I've recorded quite a few public domain audiobooks for LibriVox.org (over 170,000 free downloads). Part of the understanding is that, by releasing the audio recordings into the public domain, anyone can do anything they want with them. I've heard my work on podcasts and GoogTube videos, and I've seen it for sale all over the place. It's public domain; I can try to profit from it and so can you. The only thing you can't do is claim copyright on it.

It's moral, it's legal, it's not a problem. It would be awesome if Amazon and/or the re-sellers dropped a nice donation to The Gutenberg Project, but they aren't required to be awesome.

[Lemeritus]

09:51 AM on 12/02/2010

Oh, bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...

If you're part of Kindle Nation and think you can only get the Gutenberg titles in a Kindle-friendly format via Amazon, not so. Project Gutenberg makes their titles available for Kindle at their site... no charge.

[bthechangeyouseek]

08:49 AM on 12/03/2010

I wondered about that. I have not tried free book websites yet. In the 4 months I have had my Kindle a number of positives have been added. After comparing all other devices, I would still choose the Kindle. I also heard downloading to the computer and then loading to the device is an option too, but have not tried that.

[Craig Turpin]

09:07 AM on 12/02/2010

Yet another Amazon Fail. Boycotting Amazon for the Holiday season this year. Too bad

[OneOleMan]

12:51 PM on 12/02/2010

Why the "Boycotting" statement? Amazon doesn't hide the fact you will be charged. Heck, just a little research, and I do mean "little" and you find sites offering free downloads that will work with Amazon's Kindle.

And what is meant by "Yet another Amazon Fail"? Just askin'

[Orph1969]

11:22 PM on 12/02/2010

Seems a little harsh, IMO. Shouldn't the fail be on the part of the third parties who download the book, strip it of Gutenberg references and then resell them via Amazon? Amazon is a platform. They're not responsible for people taking perfectly legal actions to make a buck, are they? If one is bothered by the morality of it all, one is free to not patronize those vendors who took the action, n'est-pas?