Someone's just flagged this on Twitter, but I don't know anything more. It's an e-book lending site, offering Kindle and Nook books.
Anyone know more about it?
lendink.com
Anyone know more about it?
lendink.com
My second book hasn't even been released yet and it's already on their site along with my first one.
We're still sorting out the question of whether you can lend or resell ebooks. My guess is that in the end, the answer will be "no". Until that gets settled, outfits like Lendink are operating in a gray area. Exactly how gray it is is a matter of your personal convictions.
Can someone clarify how ebook lending works? I mean, once it's on someone's reader or computer, isn't it there forever? Or am I missing something?
My second book hasn't even been released yet and it's already on their site along with my first one.
It depends on DRM to work. When I lend you an ebook I am unable to read it via my DRM-infected ereader hardware or software; you are granted temporary access to the content via your h. or s.
QFT.In the meantime, what I keep telling people is that if they love an author's work, or a particular kind of book, the only way they're ever going to see more is if they pay for it.
Here’s how it works: if you buy an ebook on your Kindle or Nook, you have the ability to lend it out to anyone else with a Kindle or Nook (Kindles lend to Kindles, Nooks to Nooks, etc.). This website connects ebook owners with others who want to borrow ebooks. So, instead of just borrowing from a friend, you can borrow even though you don’t know the person. All they do is match lenders and borrowers together. (They’re like a dating service.) The actual lending happens through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or wherever the ebook was originally purchased, and that’s completely legit.
I don't mind the lending aspect, but I dislike the fact Lendink ask for donations. Why should they get paid for lending my book when I don't see a cent?
They can't have that legally. Look into it.
The site was up and running yesterday. My publisher inquired about it and today, the site has been suspended. Looks like they were up to no good.
It depends on DRM to work. When I lend you an ebook I am unable to read it via my DRM-infected ereader hardware or software; you are granted temporary access to the content via your h. or s.
Considering there were books that had DRM code on them, I doubt that was the only reason. While it's not illegal to break the DRM code to, say, transfer the book to another ereader you own. It is illegal to then share it with someone else.It's more likely that a misguided author sent a DMCA to their host and they were shut down on the accusation alone.
It's more likely that a misguided author sent a DMCA to their host and they were shut down on the accusation alone.
My second book hasn't even been released yet and it's already on their site along with my first one.
LendInk brought strangers together, allowing them to lend legitimately purchased ebooks to each other under the terms and policies set by each publisher (whether it was a self published author or a traditionally published author). Unfortunately, for some reason a number of authors believed that the site was engaged in piracy and in three days got the site shut down.
Was LendInk a pirate site? From their FAQs, it wasn't clear and it looked more like a reader matching site that didn't have any files of its own.