Used E-books To Become a Reality, Kindle Fire 2 In August?
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Many folks prefer buying paper books rather than e-books due to the fact that they can sell them in the future. But the notion of used e-books could become a possibility with a new ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The idea does seem a bit strange though as there is no difference between a used e-book and its “new” version. This could be quite disruptive for the publishing industry as well.
Where the copyright holder makes available to his customer a copy – tangible or intangible – and at the same time concludes, in return form payment of a fee, a license agreement granting the customer the right to use that copy for an unlimited period, that right-holder sells the copy to the customer and thus exhausts his exclusive distribution right. Such a transaction involves a transfer of the right of ownership of the copy. Therefore, even if the license agreement prohibits a further transfer, the right-holder can no longer oppose the resale of that copy. He can therefore download onto his computer the copy sold to him by the first acquirer. Such a download must be regarded as a reproduction of digital product that is necessary to enable the new acquirer to use the program in accordance with its intended purpose.
This is quite an interesting ruling but I don’t expect it to be the final word on the matter. It is almost inconceivable that publishers would allow e-book buyers to sell their copies without a fight. Making sure that sellers don’t use their products anymore is going to be a headache too.
Speaking of important developments, Amazon seems to be getting ready to bring the Kindle Fire 2 to the market some time in August. According to China Times, Amazon is preparing the next generation of Kindle Fire 2s to be delivered on August 7th. The company seems to have ordered 2m 7 Kindle Fire 2s from Quanta. The new Kindle Fire will have a metal frame with displays from LG. How it stacks up against the Nexus 7 is not known at this point.
