Who Owns Your Kindle Books?

If you walk even five feet into my house, it is rather obvious that my wife and I like books.  There are bookcases and stacks and piles of books in every room of the house save the kitchen (and I have my eye on those pantry shelves).  Reading is my favorite holiday—one that occupies many hours of every day, and far, far too many hours while I should be sleeping.

Not surprisingly, I also own and regularly use a Kindle.  While I prefer to read from a real hardback edition, I must admit that the ability to keep a small library of books on a small handheld device is seductive.  I read about 20% faster on a Kindle than with a hardback book, and I have found the ability to search for a word or phrase useful during a classroom discussion.  As much as I love a Kindle, after I finish a book that I really like, I still go on and buy a print version of that book.  

There is one very real drawback to Kindle books:  Despite your “buying” them from Amazon, you cannot lend them, resell them, or print them out.  If I buy a real book from Amazon, I can loan it to a friend, resell it at the used bookstore, or even donate it to a library.  But if I buy an eBook, I can’t do any of those for one simple reason—I didn’t really buy it. 

Yes—Amazon does have a limited “loan program” via which I can share books with a friend.  The operative word in that sentence is “limited”.  So far, I have found that not one book that I wanted to share with a friend has been eligible, and I “own” hundreds of Kindle books.  (I strongly suspect that you can only “loan” books that no one wants to read!)

Imagine you walk into a bookstore, buy a hardcover novel, read it, and then lend it to your friend.  Maybe later you sell it to someone else for coffee money.  Totally legal, right?  That’s thanks to the First Sale Doctrine — a fancy name for a simple legal idea:  Once you buy a copyrighted work (like a book, CD, or DVD), you own that particular copy and can lend, sell, donate, or use it to prop up a wobbly table.  The author still owns the copyright, but your copy?  That’s yours to do with as you please.

But here’s where it gets weird:  When you click “Buy Now” on a Kindle book, you’re not actually buying it — at least not in the way you think.  You’re only licensing it.  Legally speaking, Amazon is saying, “We’re letting you read this under certain conditions… but you don’t own it.”  It’s like a high-tech book club where Amazon is the fussy librarian who can take the book back if you break the rules (or even if they just feel like it).

You might have noticed that I said that Amazon, the fussy Librarian, can take the book away from you if they want.  That is correct—if Amazon decides that you are violating the terms of the fine print that no one ever bothers to read, they can not only erase a book from your online library but can reach down the internet and remove the book from your Kindle device.   The most infamous case occurred in 2009, when Amazon deleted copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm from customers’ Kindles without warning because the third-party seller who uploaded the books didn’t have the rights to distribute them, so not only did Amazon “have to” pull them, it also showed that Amazon  could (and did) reach into users' devices to delete files.  Amazon later apologized, issued refunds, and promised more transparency, but the technical ability remains.

So why doesn’t the First Sale Doctrine apply?  Because that rule only kicks in when you own a copy.  If you have just a license, you don’t get those rights—no lending, no selling, and no donating.  Your Kindle book is like a hotel room: you’re allowed to stay and enjoy it, but try reselling it and someone’s going to knock on your door with legal papers.

In short: First Sale is great for real books, yard sales, and lending to friends.  But for Kindle books?  You’re just borrowing (indefinitely)…from a very polite robot librarian with a lot of lawyers.

The First Sale Doctrine for printed books is firmly established law, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus (1908) and strengthened by later cases and the Copyright Act of 1976.  Unfortunately, it does not apply to your Kindle book because transferring a digital file involves making a new copy, which violates the reproduction right under copyright law.  This was a key point in Capitol Records v. ReDigi (2018), in which the court ruled that the First Sale Doctrine does not apply to digital music resales because each "resale" creates a new copy.

If you shop at Amazon, these legal distinctions are not very apparent.  The company advertises “sales” and allows me to put an eBook into a “basket”.  Phrases such as “Your Library” seem to indicate that I have a permanent collection, yet Amazon can delete my purchases without my approval.  Amazon’s practice of labeling your eBook acquisition “purchased” when you’re actually licensing it under restrictive terms is deliberately legally murky, linguistically misleading, and ethically questionable. 

Amazon’s language is deliberately misleading:  It markets eBooks using the language of ownership, but gives you only a license. That contradiction isn’t just semantic — it shapes your legal rights.  The only way to truly own an eBook is to buy DRM-free files from the few publishers or stores that don’t restrict usage after download.  DRM is a set of technologies used by publishers and platforms to restrict how digital content—like eBooks—can be accessed, copied, shared, or used.

U.S. courts have generally upheld Amazon’s position, because consumers agree to the license terms when they make a purchase — even if they haven’t read them.  Consumer protection advocates argue this is a deceptive business practice because the word "buy" implies ownership under normal usage.  A court in Germany ruled against Amazon in 2014 for exactly this issue, saying they couldn't advertise eBooks as “purchased” if they weren’t owned outright.  In the U.S., regulators haven’t taken strong action—yet.  But some legal scholars argue this runs afoul of basic consumer expectations and may already be in violation of some states’ consumer protection laws.

A few publishers, like TOR (they typically publish science fiction, including the excellent Old Man’s War series by John Scalzi) offer DRM-free publications.  And there are eBook readers available from companies other than Amazon, such as Kobe or Boox.  These are not great options since Amazon has the largest eBook store in the world.

The only real chance we have to see this change is to hope that legislation will be passed that extends First Purchase rights to digital material.  However, Amazon is headed by Jeff Bezos—the world’s third-richest man—who not only has an army of lobbyists pandering to every politician’s slightest wish but also owns the Washington Post…. Don’t hold your breath.