3 ms·

> 1) The Terms of Service for usage of Kindle devices are not relevant to a contract between Amazon and an author whose work is published through Kindle Unlimit

> 1) The Terms of Service for usage of Kindle devices are not relevant to a contract between Amazon and an author whose work is published through Kindle Unlimited. No, but it's definitely relevant for Kindle users who purchased a book only to see it disappear from their devices!

gambiting 4y ago
This has literally only ever happened once. Among millions of titles available on Kindle, a book was only remotely pulled from user's devices once. I'm not saying this was ok, I'm saying that clearly the issue is completely blown out of proportion.
- beefman 4y ago
  It's happened more than that, because an Orwell title was mentioned here and it happened to me years ago with a title from another author. (This was before Unlimited existed and I've never used Unlimited.) Amazon also removed an anime I purchased in 2019. For a while it said it wasn't available to watch in my location. As of today it's trying to sell it to me again!
  - daveoc64 4y ago
    It's never happened since - you are almost certainly mistaken. This is a common problem with digital storefronts - people think they bought something from store X, but they actually got it from store Y or on a different account. Amazon remembers every order you've ever placed - including digital ones. Check whether you can find the order in your order history - if you can see the order, but not the item, Amazon customer support will add it to your account again.
    - beefman 4y ago
      Since what? The Orwell incident? I wasn't aware of it. I discovered the book I'm talking about missing on July 16, 2013. It reappeared in my Kindle library a few years ago but was gone for most of the intervening period. In the case of the anime, I have the order on Amazon and can follow the link to the item. I also know a bit about the production and release of this anime in different markets and can assure you I'm not mistaken.
      - gambiting 4y ago
        Well if you have the order reference in your amazon purchase history, but the book isn't physically visible in your kindle library, then contact Amazon support and ask them to sort it out - that sounds like a bug not a deliberate action.
        beefman 4y ago
        It may have been a bug but it coincided with the physical book going out of print, and reappeared in my Kindle library when the physical book was reprinted.
  - pyuser583 4y ago
    An amateur voice actor began doing a podcast how himself reciting a very large work in public domain. It was amazing! He tried to monitize by selling it digitally on Amazon music. Amazon figured out he was sneaking around Audible, and stopped it. Now I can’t download those “songs” - in fact they don’t exist anywhere in Amazon’s system.
- lmm 4y ago
  Apparently they've stopped pulling them from individual physical Kindles, but they still pull them from "your library" and the cloud reader (which is very much presented as being your own space full of books that you privately own). http://teleread.com/amazon-removes-incest-related-erotica-titles-from-store-kindle-archive/index.html http://teleread.com/amazon-removes-incest-related-erotica-ti...
- pyuser583 4y ago
  It’s happened more than once. Users who buy a book in a foreign country have lost the book when they got home. Amazon accused them of flouting jurisdictions and trying to buy something not for sale in their country. In fairness, there’s an audiobook I really, really want that isn’t available in the US Audible store, but is available in foreign Audible stores. I really really want this book - it’s a poem I really love recited by a voice actor I really love. But if I purchase it on a trip, or use a VPN Amazon could kill my entire Kindle/Audible collection. So I bought the audio cassette on eBay.
  - gambiting 4y ago
    That's not even remotely the same. That's like saying you "lose" your driving licence if you move to a foreign country(because it stops being valid). Those users still own the books they bought, they can only access them in regions where they bought them because that's the limit of the digital licence on the product - nothing has been removed from their library, it just became inaccessible temporarily(while they reside elsewhere).
squeaky-clean 4y ago
Kindle Unlimited books are "free" books if you're paying for the subscription. It's similar to Netflix removing a show, you have no recourse because you never bought the show.
duskwuff 4y ago
> No, but it's definitely relevant for Kindle users who purchased a book only to see it disappear from their devices! Actually, no, that's even more irrelevant. I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but: Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service. It is not the same as purchasing Kindle-formatted ebooks through the main Amazon web store, nor is it the same as a Kindle device. (Kindle Unlimited doesn't even require Kindle hardware; they're just both marketed under the same brand name.)

gambiting 4y ago

This has literally only ever happened once. Among millions of titles available on Kindle, a book was only remotely pulled from user's devices once. I'm not saying this was ok, I'm saying that clearly the issue is completely blown out of proportion.

beefman 4y ago
It's happened more than that, because an Orwell title was mentioned here and it happened to me years ago with a title from another author. (This was before Unlimited existed and I've never used Unlimited.) Amazon also removed an anime I purchased in 2019. For a while it said it wasn't available to watch in my location. As of today it's trying to sell it to me again!
- daveoc64 4y ago
  It's never happened since - you are almost certainly mistaken. This is a common problem with digital storefronts - people think they bought something from store X, but they actually got it from store Y or on a different account. Amazon remembers every order you've ever placed - including digital ones. Check whether you can find the order in your order history - if you can see the order, but not the item, Amazon customer support will add it to your account again.
  - beefman 4y ago
    Since what? The Orwell incident? I wasn't aware of it. I discovered the book I'm talking about missing on July 16, 2013. It reappeared in my Kindle library a few years ago but was gone for most of the intervening period. In the case of the anime, I have the order on Amazon and can follow the link to the item. I also know a bit about the production and release of this anime in different markets and can assure you I'm not mistaken.
    - gambiting 4y ago
      Well if you have the order reference in your amazon purchase history, but the book isn't physically visible in your kindle library, then contact Amazon support and ask them to sort it out - that sounds like a bug not a deliberate action.
      - beefman 4y ago
        It may have been a bug but it coincided with the physical book going out of print, and reappeared in my Kindle library when the physical book was reprinted.
- pyuser583 4y ago
  An amateur voice actor began doing a podcast how himself reciting a very large work in public domain. It was amazing! He tried to monitize by selling it digitally on Amazon music. Amazon figured out he was sneaking around Audible, and stopped it. Now I can’t download those “songs” - in fact they don’t exist anywhere in Amazon’s system.
lmm 4y ago
Apparently they've stopped pulling them from individual physical Kindles, but they still pull them from "your library" and the cloud reader (which is very much presented as being your own space full of books that you privately own). http://teleread.com/amazon-removes-incest-related-erotica-titles-from-store-kindle-archive/index.html http://teleread.com/amazon-removes-incest-related-erotica-ti...
pyuser583 4y ago
It’s happened more than once. Users who buy a book in a foreign country have lost the book when they got home. Amazon accused them of flouting jurisdictions and trying to buy something not for sale in their country. In fairness, there’s an audiobook I really, really want that isn’t available in the US Audible store, but is available in foreign Audible stores. I really really want this book - it’s a poem I really love recited by a voice actor I really love. But if I purchase it on a trip, or use a VPN Amazon could kill my entire Kindle/Audible collection. So I bought the audio cassette on eBay.
- gambiting 4y ago
  That's not even remotely the same. That's like saying you "lose" your driving licence if you move to a foreign country(because it stops being valid). Those users still own the books they bought, they can only access them in regions where they bought them because that's the limit of the digital licence on the product - nothing has been removed from their library, it just became inaccessible temporarily(while they reside elsewhere).

squeaky-clean 4y ago

Kindle Unlimited books are "free" books if you're paying for the subscription. It's similar to Netflix removing a show, you have no recourse because you never bought the show.

duskwuff 4y ago

> No, but it's definitely relevant for Kindle users who purchased a book only to see it disappear from their devices! Actually, no, that's even more irrelevant. I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but: Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service. It is not the same as purchasing Kindle-formatted ebooks through the main Amazon web store, nor is it the same as a Kindle device. (Kindle Unlimited doesn't even require Kindle hardware; they're just both marketed under the same brand name.)