reading The Sentimentalists on Remembrance Day

I am -- because I just downloaded it (for the reasonable price of $17) to my Kobo e-reader.

When Gaspereau makes some more of their exquisitely beautiful editions of the novel, I'll buy one of those as well.

Thanks Ms. Skibsrud, thanks Gaspereau and thanks Kobo!

reader & writer chat some more about e-books

Based on some of the comments from my last posting, my reader and writer selves have continued their conversation about e-books. They are also really hoping a lawyer shows up at some point to help explain some of the implications for writers (and readers) of the new user exceptions in C-32:

Writer: Hold on there, Reader, have you checked out the Terms of Use on that Kobo device you bought?

Reader: Oh sure, just like I've read every word of my car's warranty. What's your point?

Writer: Well, it says here “You may not separate any individual component of the Device Software for use on another device or another computer, may not transfer it for use on another device or use it, or any portion of it, over a network and may not sell, rent, lease, lend, distribute or sublicense or otherwise assign any rights to the Software in whole or in part.”

Reader: Okay... and since I don’t want to do any of those things, I’m cool with that.

Writer: But it says lend. You can’t lend!

Reader: I can’t lend the software. Who “lends” software anyway? Isn’t that sort of the same as giving away an unauthorized copy of software?

Writer: Yeah, sort of like me walking into a bookstore, picking up a copy of The Bishop’s Man and “lending” it to you. Seems kind of funny they even include that prohibition in their Terms of Use. It’s a no-brainer.

Reader: So, I can still lend the book, as long as I’m lending the e-reader with it?

Writer: I don’t see anything in here that would stop you. Just a bunch of stuff about selling, renting, leasing, distributing or broadcasting.

Reader: Why would I do that stuff?

Writer: Well, selling… I don’t know. You sell old books from time to time, don’t you?

Reader: Actually, no, I give my old books away, but I see your point. Not much room here for a used digital book store to open up.

Writer: Of course, if the prices for e-books stay the same, there’s little point to a used store, since the new product is so darned affordable.

Wait a second – here’s something nasty.

Reader: What now?

Writer: It says here that Kobo is going to be tracking what you read, when you read it and even what you think about it.

Reader: What?

Writer: It’s all right here. Look – “The Device Software when connected to your computer will provide Kobo with data about your Device and its interaction with the Service and information related to the content on your Device and your use of it (such as automatic bookmarking of the last page read and content deletions from the Device). Annotations, bookmarks, notes, highlights, or similar markings you make in your Device and other information you provide may be stored on servers in Canada. Information we receive is subject to the Kobo.com Privacy Policy.”

Man, it’s like Nineteen Eighty-Four or some equally terrifying dystopian future. Your device there is like some sort of wiretap Kobo can use to spy on you and your reading habits. I don't know, dude, I feel an evil wind rising.

Reader: Calm down, calm down, you're not writing a teenage vampire saga here. Doesn't Kobo already know what book I’m reading? I sort of told them what I was reading when I bought the book from them, didn’t I?

Writer: But, what if you want to make notes, or highlight anything. They’ll know what you find interesting. I'm really thinking it's time to start running into the streets screaming.

Reader: Well, first of all, this device doesn’t let me highlight or make notes, and the only bookmarking it does is to the last page read. It’s really low-tech, which is part of why I like it. Second of all, if I’m going to make notes while reading, I’ll write them with a pen in a paper notebook. I assume Kobo can’t see into my notebook?

Writer: Still, don’t you find that whole server stuff a bit creepy?

Reader: Creepier than Google photographing my house and putting it on the Internet? Creepier than Amazon.com “recommending” a new book to me based on my previous purchases? No, I’d say my Kobo is a whole lot less creepy than those two things.

Writer: Good point. But, I don't know, it still seems too restrictive to me. What if you decide later on to buy a Kindle instead? You'd have to buy your whole library over again.

Reader: Because those books would be different if I read them over again on a Kindle?

Writer: um...

Reader: I don't see the problem. First of all, if I buy a Kobo, I probably won't buy a Kindle. What am I, some sort of tech-gadget sucker who needs to get every new thing as soon as it comes out? How many e-readers does one person need? Second of all, if I do go ahead and get a Kindle later on, then I'll read Kindle books on that device, and keep the Kobo to reread any of my old Kobo books later on.

reader & writer after Bill C-32

Bill C-32 is the federal government’s Copyright Modernization Act – proposed legislation designed to update Canada’s Copyright Act. Some like it, most have issues with it, some hate it. What’s more, if you try to get any substantial information or commentary about it, you may find yourself in some pretty weedy reading (I dare anyone to try and get through Michael Geist’s 32 Questions and Answers on C-32's Digital Lock Provisions without several brief naps).

Since so much speculation on C-32 and user rights is abstract and theoretical, I am attempting some real world experimentation for myself. I will share as I go along.

Experiment #1 - Electronic Books

I am both writer and reader, and therefore both creator and user (in standard copyright parlance). I’ve recently sent these two parts of myself out into the digital world to do some reading and writing:

Reader: Hey, look, I bought a Kobo ™ e-reading device!

I still love the look, feel, smell and heft of physical books (and will continue to buy them at my local independent bookseller), but there’s no denying the portability value-add of today’s e-readers. I can take, like, a thousand books with me on vacation. Talk about choice at my fingertips. And the Kobo is Canadian, so I’m standing on guard for thee.

Writer: Cool. I recently asked my publisher to make a Kobo book out of my last novel (well, my only novel – give me a break, it takes a long time to write one of those things). You should go ahead and download my novel.

Reader: Dude, I wrote your last novel. I’m going to download something else. Hey look, 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Linden MacIntyre’s The Bishop’s Man is in the Kobo store for only $9.99. That’s a 69% savings over the physical book.

Writer: Yikes, that’s some deep discounting. On the other hand, would you have bought the hardcover?

Reader: Probably not – in the physical world, I’m more of a small press and poetry collector, and MacIntyre is decidedly big-publisher mainstream. This is a bonus e-sale Random House is getting from me. It’s not subtracting from their physical sales; it’s adding onto them. $9.99 is a price-point I’m willing to take a digital risk on – it’s less than a beer at a baseball game.

Writer: Okay, so you’re invested to the tune of ten bucks. But doesn’t Kobo’s proprietary formatting restrict you from what you can do with the book? I mean, compared to all the analog things you can do with a physical book, haven’t you lost some rights and functionality in the move to digital? Michael Geist tells me that your e-reader’s digital locks are going to take all those rights and functions away.

Reader: Kobo books come in ePub format, which is pretty open as far as I can tell. I am able to put my own ePub files onto the Kobo device, and also free e-books from the public domain that I’ve downloaded elsewhere. I’m not sure about the fair dealing stuff since I’m so new to this. I see you’re carrying a copy of Bill C-32 in your pocket here. Name me something I should be able to do with my newly purchased e-book, and let’s see.

Writer: Okay, how about making a back-up copy? Section 29.24 says you should be able to make a back-up. You know, in case you drop your Kobo device in the bath and lose all that content.

Reader: A back-up copy? Who makes back-up copies of their physical books? If I dropped the physical book in the bath, I guess I’d just go buy a new book, or get it from the library to finish it. Besides, who e-reads in the bath?

Writer: Look, Michael Geist says you should want a back-up copy, so you should want it. Can you do it?

Reader: Um, yes, easily. When I buy a book from Kobo, I download it to my laptop. Then I transfer it from my laptop to my e-reader, but I can also just read it on my laptop if I want. I can even access the same book and read it on my iPhone just by signing in to my Kobo account. What’s more, I just tried signing into my Kobo account on my sister-in-law’s iPad and found MacIntyre’s book there too. Looks like I can make endless back-up copies – or more accurately, I don’t need a copy, since the book is just available to me when I want it, as long as I sign in. Try that with a physical book.

Writer: Hmmm, that pretty much covers Section 29.22 (format shifting) and even 29.23 (time shifting) as well – you know, unless you wanted to buy a Kindle and read your Kobo books on that.

Reader: Why would I want to do that?

Writer: I don’t know – what if Kobo goes out of business?

Reader: Good point – well, I guess, since Kobo books are ePub format, the books I bought would be easily transferable to another open device. But, yeah, if I bought a Kindle, I’d be locked into the more-restrictive Kindle format, and then what if they went out of business?

Writer: Sounds like a good reason not to buy a Kindle – I mean if you really want to keep a large library of e-books forever. Oh, how about lending The Bishop’s Man? If it were a physical book, you could lend it to me after you read it.

Reader: Did I mention the book costs less than a beer? Do you want to “borrow” some beer as well?

Writer: Yeah, good point. At these prices, I can get my own copy.

Reader: On the other hand, I guess anyone I trusted with my e-reader, laptop, iPhone or Kobo password could borrow any of my e-books easily and legally.

Writer: Wait, I’ve got it – how about standard fair-dealing rights? What if I want to quote from MacIntyre’s book for the purposes of criticism? I am a writer after all. Does that fancy device let you copy and paste?

Reader: No, it doesn’t.

Writer: But that violates my user rights. I need to be able to quote! And look, C-32 gives me parody rights as well. How am I supposed to write The Bishop's Ham if the digital locks won’t let me at the original content?

Reader: Do you still own a pen? You want to quote – quote. You want to make fun – make fun. What do you need copy and paste for?

Hey, does it say there in C-32 that I suddenly have all sorts of new rights to use e-books in education?

Writer: Yes it does – right here in Section 30. Whoa, all sorts of new educational exceptions.

Reader: That’s great for students and teachers – but does that mean MacIntyre gets paid to have his book used in schools, or not?

Writer: Hmmmmm… I think we might need to talk to a lawyer.