Swap eBooks - is this legal?
You can exchange eBooks read on many pages on the Internet. In this article, we clarify whether this is legal.
eBook exchange legal or illegal?
eBooks are electronic books that you can buy online and also sell or exchange on certain pages. Whether the latter is really legal is currently controversial:
- Here there are differences between normal books and eBooks. With the latter, you do not acquire ownership with the purchase, but only an unlimited right of use. You can read the text, but it is not yours. So you must not use it at will.
- As long as you only have this right of use, it is up to the respective provider whether you can legally exchange the book or not. This is usually regulated in the terms and conditions.
- Another problem is evident on the exchange exchanges themselves: the eBook is not recognizable as the original here. This would allow fraudsters to pirate the eBook file and sell it or offer it for exchange. If you purchase such an eBook, you are legally entitled to neither ownership nor right of use. In other words, you would not legally own the book.
- The respective eBook provider could even prohibit sales among friends in its terms and conditions. The BGH also confirmed this in its latest judgment (BGH AZ: I-ZR 120/14, OLG Hamm AZ: 22 U 60/13). This decision can also be transferred to the exchange with eBooks. However, there is no clear case law on this topic.
- However, companies like Sony are currently working on special copy protection for eBooks. Such secured books may be specially marked so that you can sell and exchange them on exchange exchanges. But that also depends on the provider.
- Until then, you shouldn't swap or sell your eBooks for safety's sake.
Instead, be on the safe side and take the legal path: on the next page we will show you where you can borrow ebooks.