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Internet Archive violated publisher copyrights by lending ebooks, court rules
The lawsuit originated from the Internet Archive’s decision to launch the “National Emergency Library” during the early days of the pandemic.
My to-read list exploded thanks to free books through the Libby app
Kris Naudus describes how the Libby library app helped restore her sanity during lockdown.
Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library to close early amid lawsuit
Four major publishers filed a lawsuit against the IA on June 1st alleging “willful mass copyright infringement.” The library was originally going to be live through June 30th, but will now close June 16th.
Apple plans to shut down iBooks Author and iTunes U
Apple is discontinuing two products you’ve probably forgotten about: iBooks Author and iTunes U.
How to find free ebooks while libraries are closed
University presses around the world, including MIT, Cambridge and Duke, are offering free ebooks and course materials during the quarantine to their students and faculty. More than 80 publishers have signed on to make their content free during the outbreak.
Microsoft closes its e-book store (updated)
Did you build your e-book library through the Microsoft Store? You'll need to make a change in plans. Microsoft has not only removed books from its online portal, but plans to remove access to existing purchases and rentals in early July. It's not a complete loss when Microsoft plans to offer refunds in the form of store credit, including $25 extra if you've made annotations before April 2nd. However, that still leaves you paying to re-stock your library through a third-party service -- and any notes you've made will disappear into the ether.
Walmart squares up to Amazon with a new e-book store
Walmart has officially launched the Amazon e-book and audiobook rival it's been working on with Kobo this past year. The big box retailer announced its partnership with Kobo's parent company Rakuten back in January, promising to give its customers (in the US, at least) an easy way to access the six million titles in Kobo's library. Now, you can finally access the partner's e-book experience via Kobo e-readers and their new co-branded apps for iOS and Android devices. You can also purchase e-books on Walmart's US website, where they're listed alongside their physical counterparts. Take note that due to an agreement with Apple, the e-book store isn't visible inside the iOS app, though the application will show any item you purchase via other means.
Walmart teams up with Kobo to sell ebooks and audiobooks
Later this year, you'll be able to buy ebooks and audiobooks straight from Walmart's website. The big box retailer has teamed up with Japanese e-commerce titan Rakuten to launch a business that can take on Amazon's Kindle offerings. Walmart will give its customers in the US an easy way to access to Kobo's library -- Kobo is Rakuten's digital book division -- and its six million titles from tens of thousands of publishers. The company will also start selling Kobo eReaders, which will set you back at least $120, online and in stores sometime this year.
Apple will redesign iBooks for the first time in years
For the past few years, iBooks has been a bit of an afterthought for Apple. The app, which is available on iPhones, iPads and Macs, has a clunky interface and poor navigation for the ebook store. But now, Apple is putting books front and center with a renamed app and a much-needed redesign, according to Bloomberg. Apple declined to comment on this story.
Kindle Oasis review (2017): Cheaper, waterproof and a bigger screen
Amazon's last Kindle Oasis felt like an e-reader meant for the very rich. It was astoundingly thin and light, but its $290 price made it a tough sell. The new Oasis is still the company's most expensive e-reader, but at $250, it's slightly cheaper than before. It also features a few firsts for Amazon's Kindle lineup: It's waterproof -- something that readers have been begging for for years -- and it has a larger 7-inch screen. While it's still hard to stomach paying so much for a mere e-reader, the new Kindle Oasis makes a stronger case for doing so than before.
Amazon offers UK Prime members a free, rotating e-book library
While Amazon offers a variety of Prime perks for Britons, it can often take a while for some of them to make it across the Atlantic. Take, for example, Prime Reading: a "free" book subscription that launched in the US last October but is only now coming to the UK. Unlike Kindle Unlimited -- which offers unrestricted access to over a million books, magazines and audiobooks for £8 a month -- Prime Reading is bundled with Amazon's annual subscription and delivers a rotating selection of popular e-books, magazines and short content.
Amazon will no longer strong arm ebook publishers in Europe
The European Commission has accepted Amazon's changes to how it sells its e-books. Following a 2015 investigation over the retailer's anti-competitive behaviour, Amazon said back in January that it would change its ebook contracts, removing clauses that demanded the most favorable distribution deals. This encompassed release dates and promotions, in addition to the plain wholesale prices offered by publishers to Amazon. The Commission, following a period of feedback from the public and "interested parties" (so, other e-book sellers and put-upon publishers), has decided to accept Amazon's proposed clause changes, making the commitments legally binding. Amazon could be fined up to 10 percent of its annual turnover if it doesn't follow through.
UK ebook sales flounder as interest in print copies rebounds
Book sales in the UK are on the rise, but not because of ebooks. Figures for 2016 released by the Publishers Association show a 7 percent rise over 2015, the largest year-over-year growth in a decade. Physical book sales were up 8 percent, however ebook sales fell by 3 percent to £538 million. The biggest contributor to the drop? What the industry calls "consumer ebooks" -- novels, autobiographies and the like -- which slipped 17 percent to £204 million. As The Guardian reports, the numbers suggest a shift back towards printed books. We spend much of our time on smartphones, laptops and tablets, so for many reading is an opportunity to disconnect.
Kobo will sell discounted digital copies of your paper books
Kobo, the Canadian e-reader titan, has snapped up a little-known e-book platform called Shelfie and will incorporate its features into its apps. Shelfie was a service that sold digital copies of print books you already own at a discount before it shuttered in January. You had to take photos of your book shelves (hence, its name) to prove you own the titles you want to buy. The service's technology would then identify your books and make an inventory of everything you own by scanning their spines.
Microsoft is testing an ebook store on Windows 10
Microsoft has unveiled an ebook store in the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview, the first time it has dabbled in bookselling since its ill-fated Barnes & Noble Nook partnership. Beta testers will be able to purchase ebooks from the Windows store, then organize and read them in the Edge browser. "Windows Insiders in the US get to try out this experience today starting with this build and we expect to add more content over time," the company said in a blog post.
Honest Few turns your social media posts into money for books
With e-book libraries, Amazon Prime Reading and the plethora of online services available putting free publications in your various devices, it's a wonder that people still pay any money for books anymore. But a new website called Honest Few is founded on the belief that you should still give something in return for your digital books: social media shares. Instead of shelling out the $3 to $20 you would normally drop for an Amazon bestseller, Honest Few is offering popular titles for free, as long as you spread word of the service and book on Twitter or Facebook. As a former bookworm who now only borrows books via New York Public Library's app or Prime Reading, I was intrigued by this new way of getting a good novel for free.
Europe rules that libraries can lend e-books like normal ones
Europe has ruled (PDF) that e-books can be lent out just like their physical counterparts. That is, as noticed by Ars Technica, one copy can be "checked out" by one person at a time. After the lending period expires, that user can no longer use the book and it goes to the next person who wants it. This might sound kind of expected, but you have to remember that it took until 2014 for the European Union to approve digitizing library books in the first place. And even then, you could only use them within the library's walls and at dedicated terminals.
Amazon will donate Kindles to promote digital reading
Amazon aims to promote digital reading around the world and has established a new program called Kindle Reading Fund to achieve that goal. The Fund will be in charge of donating Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets and ebooks to various recipients, such as reading programs in developing nations. To make sure its devices reach the people who need them, the tech titan has joined forces with Worldreader, a non-profit that provides e-books to children and families in the developing world to promote literacy. The two already worked together in previous projects, according to TechCrunch, including bringing digital reading materials to 61 Kenyan libraries.
E-book sales in the UK decline for the first time
There's something to be said about a printed book. It's easy to read outdoors, you can lend it to a friend and, unlike a top-end Kindle, it doesn't spell disaster if you lose it. E-readers have their place, but today The Publishers Association (PA) has confirmed that Brits still love holding paper between their fingers. In the UK, printed book sales rose from £2.75 billion in 2014 to £2.76 billion in 2015 -- the first increase in four years. Digital book sales, meanwhile, dropped from £563 million to £554 million over the same period. It's the first drop in e-book sales the PA has ever recorded.
Kindle Oasis review: The perfect e-reader for the 1 percent
Amazon's Kindle Oasis is like a feast with the world's finest caviar. It's an all-you-can-eat Wagyu steak dinner. It's an $80 cup of coffee. Simply put, the Oasis is a $290 extravagance meant only for the few who can afford it. For the rest of us, it's just something to lust after. We called the $200 Kindle Voyage the "Rolls Royce of e-readers" two years ago, but instead of going cheaper (the standard Kindle is currently $60, and the backlit Paperwhite model is $100), Amazon pushed even further into luxury status. For $290 you get an e-reader so light it almost feels like you're holding nothing at all. Unfortunately, Amazon still hasn't made a strong argument for why anyone actually needs a high-end reading device.
