Plus, in the digital world, there are many workarounds. But industry watchers feel that’s only a technical issue which can be addressed. DRM or digital rights management is a security technology that protects a digital content from being copied. But publishers can make ebooks copy-safe, right? Hence the importance of the Tom Kabinet case. Interestingly, most ebooks sold by almost all publishers and sellers, including Amazon and Apple, carry similar licence documents. To be fair, Oracle’s license documents says it disallows resale of its software. UsedSoft specialises in buying and reselling used software licenses original buyers want to part with. ![]() It even said the author of such software cannot oppose any resale. ![]() In a dispute between software giant Oracle and Switzerland-based UsedSoft, the court ruled that the trading of ‘used’ software licences is legal in Europe. The portal fights the case anchoring on a 2012 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has the potential to influence the Dutch court’s decision. On its part, Tom places a watermark on the copies resold so that publishers can identify them easily. The website in fact is not a pure reseller it says it’s a facilitator between book buyers and sellers and takes a commission when a sale is made. Tom Kabinet, a startup based in Laren in the Netherlands, says it sells only legally purchased copies and puts in its best efforts to ensure that the copies are legal. Quoting its own research, the body says almost 90 per cent of the ebooks Tom Kabinet sells on its website are pirated and people are reselling books downloaded illegally. It believes that Tom Kabinet has been merrily violating copyrights and intellectual property laws. The publishers’ body says the online bookseller should stop selling used ebooks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |