As I recall, it’s legal to “share” digital copyrighted material with up to eight people. So this isn’t really news, although I’m sure it will be a revelation to many. Amazon’s competitors have all touted the ability to “lend” e-books, to one degree or another. In an email to publishers this afternoon:
Dear Publisher,
We are excited to announce Kindle book lending (http://www.amazon.com/kindle-lending). The Kindle Book Lending feature allows users to lend digital books they have purchased through the Kindle Store to their friends and family. Each book may be lent once for a duration of 14 days and will not be readable by the lender during the loan period.
All DTP titles are enrolled in lending by default. For titles in the 35% royalty option, you may choose to opt out of lending by deselecting the checkbox under “Kindle Book Lending,” in the “Rights and Pricing” section of the title upload/edit process. You may not choose to opt out a title if it is included in the lending program of another sales or distribution channel. For more details, see section 5.2.2 of the Term and Conditions.
For more info on how Kindle Book Lending works, see our FAQ here: http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=581
Sincerely,
Amazon Digital Text Platform
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Check out the Kindle Lending Club page on Facebook – for people to request and offer Kindle book loans, discover great new books for free, and share their collection with other book lovers:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kindle-Lending-Club-Borrow-and-Lend-Kindle-Books/152751058110306