Hello,

If this question has been talk in other post please let me know.

What about selling ebooks (on ebay, on forums) that you once get (and paid for it) but you don't find them usefull anymore.
I believe people don't find problems in books or DVD but in ebooks is different.
If I have buy a ebook of magic cards, for example, and I'm not interested anymore in cards or I bought an ebook than some years after it's included in a book from the author. Or just I don't like the contents of the ebook because a confusing advertising.
I'm in the same case that when I'm selling a book of second hand?
Some ebooks come with "this copy belongs to XXXXXX", I'm doing wrong selling them?

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks

Sell it and don't worry about what anyone else here has to say.

Depends on the terms under which it was sold. Most people do not allow their e books to be resold.

If it has a "this copy belongs to" notation on it, it would be my guess that their intent was that you not resell it.

Coudn't someone buy ONE downloaded e-book and sell as many copies as he wants?

I supose it's a question of ethicval behavior

No it is a question of legal behavior, in the case of Ibd's question.

Also the terms under which the book was purchased. Some are bound to one buyer. Others have no such limitations.

The problem with E books is that they are SO easy to steal and share.

It doesn't make sense to sell an E-book because you could easily make multiple copies of it. It's inethical. If you bought the effect and didn't like it, try to ask for a refund. Otherwise, you're just stuck with it.

I see you point on new products and effects, reselling appears illegal.

However there is other ethically questionable ground in the e-book arena. For example many classic magic books have gone out of print, I have noticed some sites selling electronic copies of classics like Tarbell's Course on Magic.

Is the internet e-book format preserving classical magic texts, to ensure there availability for the next generation? Or is this just some people pirating books for profit?

Charlie

We have copyright law to protect the texts.

Wow, strong statements. I really think that calling the republishing of books that are in public domain "pirating" is either overdramatic, shows an incomplete understanding of what many of these e-books are, or a combination of the two.

Let's take the Tarbell Course which you brought up. This is not the Tarbell books, this is an e-book containing all of the original lessons sent out by Harlan Tarbell.

With this, Chris tracked down all of the original source material (which is now in the public domain) scanned them in , cleaned them up, created a framework and a workable format for them in a e-book. An e-book that perserves a bit of magical history. Yes, he is selling this, but for the amount of work he put into this project, it should be sold for much more.

Tony

I wondered about the copy wright protection laws. But I have seen that most of the texts are old. Do you know if copyrights expire after a book is out of print for a cetain period of time? I wanted to get a copy of some older books, but I will not support a pirate in order to do it.
Charlie

Tony,
Sorry I missed your post while typing. Thank You for clearing up the info on the Tarbell Course. I am glad Chris put in the effort to preserve the public domain originals of the Tarbell Course.

I have seen a few websites with a lot of very old ebooks of texts from 1900-1930 vintage. I wonder if they are public domain also, I will email the website and ask.

Charlie

Andi Gladwin is very smart by putting "This belongs to...." It doesn't solve the problem, but it takes care of it a little.

If you paid for it and acquired it legally, I think it's OK to sell it on, provided you delete any electronic copies you have of the book and destroy any printed copies. An ebook is really no different to any other book. I don't think the fact it's a magic-related ebook has any bearing.

I'd agree with BlackShadow's interpretation. I was actually thinking about this recently because when I started with Cards I bought one or two tricks as video downloads.

I either no longer perform these tricks, or I have since acquired written versions of them in various books (that I should have bought in the first place).

I was wondering if I could offer 1 copy of a video for sale. I.e. once I've sold it on I would delete all copies that I have, and I would only sell it to one person.

I think that would be ok in theory. In practice it might not be ok. How would I know that the person I'm selling to will be ethical? I'd be selling on someone elses secret but in a format that would allow the buyer to distribute multiple copies and do whatever with them. And for what? $3? less?

So playing it safe I won't be selling on any ebooks or videos. I might sell real books although In practice again, I'd probably just donate them to my local magic club library.

I wonder has anyone given any thought to the concept of a magic club library in an era of Ebooks? Would it be ethical for a club to buy copies of ebooks and make them available to registered members through the club website.

Has anyone tried selling an ebook to clubs with an additional fee, or an annual fee that allows distribution to members?

Interesting issues.

-Rd