# Anyone know the real reason Amazon doesn't allow custom Screensavers?(w/Sample)



## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Good morning, everyone. I was just sitting at the coffeehouse and a fellow Kindler was next to me (with a great Voyage case) while I was reading the paper and said "hello, is that screensaver cover in settings? I can't find it." I then proceeded to talk about the wild pages and pages of threads from the amazing tinkerers on MobileRead who talk through all the screensaver and font hacks. I fortunately have some basic working knowledge of .bin and .install files but shouldn't the everyday person who would rather just read and not have to mess with anything have this option?

It got me thinking as this has been talked about plenty but. What do you feel is the real reason Amazon doesn't allow you to have the current book cover showing when your Kindle is asleep? I could understand the custom screensavers but wouldn't book covers be advertising for the books themselves? Below, my Oasis with cover screensaver:


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## John Hopper (Mar 31, 2013)

I think it's because the amount of effort the software tweaks would need is just not on their list of priorities - from interviews with Amazon Kindle employees, their efforts are focused on reproducing the book experience in as light and user-friendly a form as possible, and this feature, for the great majority of users is at best a nice to have, but probably for most of them, just not on their register.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Ya know, I made this suggestion to Amazon about two days after I got my first kindle back in July of 2008. It doesn't seem like it should be _that_ hard for the OS to include something that lest the user choose to show the book cover of the currently reading book. And it's been discussed so often here I find it hard to believe that they've not gotten enough requests to seriously consider it.

That said, I would expect such a function to be turned OFF for those who have gotten a discount on the device based on accepting special offer sleep pictures. Fair enough: but for those who buy out of the SOs, they should have the option of stock sleep pictures or to use the cover of the most recently opened book.

I dunno -- I do read several things at a time; maybe it's harder that I think it ought to be. In my case I guess it would be a different picture depending on what I last read.

The ONLY thing that makes sense to me is that it's a copyright thing -- but if you're using images from books already purchased/on the device, I don't see the issue there. I do suspect that's why the original sleep pictures were all old woodcuts -- clearly public domain images.

I have also suggested . . . this was probably a month after I got my first kindle, that they could SELL -- as in, Make Money -- sleep picture packets for people. I suspect there are a fair number who would BUY themed packs. But, again, they wouldn't be able to be used by folks with SOs.

Maybe the bottom line is that they want to be able to sell the ad space and so they don't want to do anything that would tend to limit the number of people who used the SOs. Because, almost certainly, if they had either of these options -- cover of book you're reading or themed packs for purchase -- there would be a significant number of Kindleers who would buy out of SOs which would reduce the number of eyeballs Amazon could 'promise' and thus the amount they could charge for the ads. Amazon would, presumably, make $20 per buy out, but that's probably not as much as they make on the ad sales. And regarding theme packs, unless they're public domain images, they'd have to pay a usage fee which might make them cost prohibitive . . . . like, people might pay $2 or $3 for an image pack but might not be willing to pay $10 or $15.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

John Hopper said:


> I think it's because the amount of effort the software tweaks would need is just not on their list of priorities - from interviews with Amazon Kindle employees, their efforts are focused on reproducing the book experience in as light and user-friendly a form as possible, and this feature, for the great majority of users is at best a nice to have, but probably for most of them, just not on their register.


Thanks, John. I definitely hear you on the low demand for users (especially with those who use covers) but I think of it as a feature that if readers had it, they would say "this is a great simple feature". Every company who has put out an Ereader from Sony to Kobo to Nook have all had the option. Confusing.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Some phenomenal points, Ann. Thank you for the thoughts. Think you hit it on the nail. I love the screensaver packets idea. They would make good money on that. That's like a goldmine of possibilities. I think for someone like you who reads various books at once, the feature would be that much more useful.

Interesting point about the public domain pictures. Never thought of that one. As an author I'd love for my cover and name to be on screensavers but maybe Amazon benefits more from their SO and most enjoy them and feel they're not intrusive.

Every so often i'm on the subway in nyc and see a kindle dangling on someone's lap and see the screensavers and think "it would be nice to see a picture of the book they're reading." Always a great feeling when they're reading something you enjoyed. Perhaps the voyeur in me. 



Ann in Arlington said:


> Ya know, I made this suggestion to Amazon about two days after I got my first kindle back in July of 2008. It doesn't seem like it should be _that_ hard for the OS to include something that lest the user choose to show the book cover of the currently reading book. And it's been discussed so often here I find it hard to believe that they've not gotten enough requests to seriously consider it.
> 
> That said, I would expect such a function to be turned OFF for those who have gotten a discount on the device based on accepting special offer sleep pictures. Fair enough: but for those who buy out of the SOs, they should have the option of stock sleep pictures or to use the cover of the most recently opened book.
> 
> ...


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

Since people have been clammoring for custom screensavers for years and Amazon has said nothing on the topic I doubt we'll ever know the reason.  I also doubt there's a single reason.  My guess is they've weighed the pros and cons and decided that what they have is what they want.

A couple of reasons I suspect they've considered, in addition to those already mentioned are support costs and also reputation.  If we can have custom screensavers no matter how simple they make it there wil be people calling support with questions.  Since they're purportedly selling Kindles at or near cost I have to think this is a major consideration.

Also, think of a woman carrying her Kindle reading a rather erotic romance with a cover that might not fit in well at a tea party.  Or a man carrying his kindle reading a book showing David cutting off Goliath's head.  This could leave a bad taste in the mouth of onlookers that might become associated in their mind with Kindles

Custom screensavers might do the same thing.  Most people wouldn't have erotic or violent screensavers but some would.  I can imagine blogs and articles about the wild screensavers seen in the wild.

As a programmer I'm pretty sure that implementing custom screensavers wouldn't be difficult or expensive and I doubt that has a lot to do with it.  I suspect a feature like the new Page Flip was more difficult to implement.

My preference, however, would be to have the screen remain unchanged when the Kindle goes to sleep.  maybe there could be something in a corner to indicate that it's sleeping but otherwise leave the text you were reading on the screen.  Since, for the most part, the Kindle screen only uses power when you change the page that would mean a very slight improvement in battery life.  And we could simply pick the thing up and begin reading while it wakes up.

All this assumes, of course, that thee's no cover.  Screen savers don't matter when you use a cover.

Barry


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

northofdivision said:


> Every so often i'm on the subway in nyc and see a kindle dangling on someone's lap and see the screensavers and think "it would be nice to see a picture of the book they're reading." Always a great feeling when they're reading something you enjoyed. Perhaps the voyeur in me.


And yet, in the early days of Kindles, the fact that people couldn't see what it was one was reading was often cited as one of the advantages of the Kindle. People reading racy stuff, for example, at work. . Different strokes.

I don't much care myself...though probably if the option to have the current book read as a screensaver existed I'd probably choose it if I didn't have SOs (which I usually do). I jumped through the hoops to have custom ss on the K1 when it was possible but stopped bothering with it on the K1 and haven't wanted it since.

It just may not be THAT big a demand. Yes, a lot of people here and on other ereader sites indicate the desire for it, but a vocal minority could still be a minority. I know quite a few people outside of KBoards with Kindles at this point; I don't think any of them care.

As always, keep sending feedback!

Betsy


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> And yet, in the early days of Kindles, the fact that people couldn't see what it was one was reading was often cited as one of the advantages of the Kindle......


^^^^This. I wouldn't particularly want to advertise what I'm reading to all and sundry, even for the most innocuous of titles - that's just the way I am. And I don't need to see it myself - I _know_ what I'm reading.  But, as I've said before about so many features of the Kindle, as long as you had the _choice_ and could turn it off if you wanted to, I wouldn't complain.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Racy novels. Yes, indeed. Why custom screen savers would be so great for novels like that. 

Screensavers, like covers on books are connectors in my opinion. I remember in the 80s there were so many great conversations of "Ooh you're reading that, how is it?" Or "I love that book". I truly miss that. To me it would be that one little piece of connection that nowadays is missing from subways and coffee shops with everyone in their own world staring at their tablets and phones. 

Barry, you bring up a really great point about customer support. The amount of added customer service needs. Nightmare. Haha. (The custom screensaver hack allows you to have the screen show the page you're on as the screeensaver with a little marker)

Ultimately, I agree not many people may be clamouring for it but like Ann, it seems like it wouldn't be that difficult to implement. Like Linjekel and Betsy mention, simply giving the reader the option. That's freedom. 

And for those of us who really want it, we can just go hack it on. I just wish people like the woman I saw this morning who wanted to have a book cover could do so easily without me telling her the 7 steps and six resets it would take to make it happen. 

I really think Ann is right about advertising money as one of the biggest reasons. 


Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

If it was an option, it would have to be just that: an option. Something that could be turned off or on as the user desires. For just the reason Betsy and Linda mention -- some people DON'T want to advertise what they're reading.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> If it was an option, it would have to be just that: an option. Something that could be turned off or on as the user desires. For just the reason Betsy and Linda mention -- some people DON'T want to advertise what they're reading.


Definitely.

I've sent them a lot of requests through the years. Barry is right that we'll probably never know why but 8 years in, i'd love to have them just roll it out one update and say "we've been listening"


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## alarsen77 (May 28, 2016)

northofdivision said:
 

> Good morning, everyone. I was just sitting at the coffeehouse and a fellow Kindler was next to me (with a great Voyage case) while I was reading the paper and said "hello, is that screensaver cover in settings? I can't find it." I then proceeded to talk about the wild pages and pages of threads from the amazing tinkerers on MobileRead who talk through all the screensaver and font hacks. I fortunately have some basic working knowledge of .bin and .install files but shouldn't the everyday person who would rather just read and not have to mess with anything have this option?
> 
> It got me thinking as this has been talked about plenty but. What do you feel is the real reason Amazon doesn't allow you to have the current book cover showing when your Kindle is asleep? I could understand the custom screensavers but wouldn't book covers be advertising for the books themselves? Below, my Oasis with cover screensaver:


I do like the look of that. Is that something you did custom or is it an option in the oasis. I have a voyage and would also like to set that as my screensaver.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

alarsen77 said:


> I do like the look of that. Is that something you did custom or is it an option in the oasis. I have a voyage and would also like to set that as my screensaver.


It's a Jailbreak and Screensaver hack. A little bit of a task (7 steps to be exact) but if you can follow a chocolate chip cookie recipe, you can get custom screensavers on your Kindle. I have it set to show the current book i'm reading. You can put whatever pics you want as your screensavers (like family pics or whatever). You can also add a line that says "If lost, please contact xxxx" which is a nice touch). **Amazon, if you're reading, please do this for us so people don't have to fuss around to have this as an option!** Feel free to direct message me, alarsen77, and I can send you some links which will walk you through the process (in order to keep this thread from forking out too much). Caveat: only works if you don't have Special Offers. It's all free but there are donation options for the people who maintain and keep developing to throw those people a few bucks to keep up the good work.

*know that if you jailbreak and tinker, Amazon says that your warranty is no good anymore if the Kindle has any problems.
**also know that I broke my first Paperwhite tinkering with Jailbreaking and they replaced it with no questions.


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## alarsen77 (May 28, 2016)

northofdivision said:


> It's a Jailbreak and Screensaver hack. A little bit of a task (7 steps to be exact) but if you can follow a chocolate chip cookie recipe, you can get custom screensavers on your Kindle. I have it set to show the current book i'm reading. You can put whatever pics you want as your screensavers (like family pics or whatever). You can also add a line that says "If lost, please contact xxxx" which is a nice touch). **Amazon, if you're reading, please do this for us so people don't have to fuss around to have this as an option!** Feel free to direct message me, alarsen77, and I can send you some links which will walk you through the process (in order to keep this thread from forking out too much). Caveat: only works if you don't have Special Offers. It's all free but there are donation options for the people who maintain and keep developing to throw those people a few bucks to keep up the good work.
> 
> *know that if you jailbreak and tinker, Amazon says that your warranty is no good anymore if the Kindle has any problems.
> **also know that I broke my first Paperwhite tinkering with Jailbreaking and they replaced it with no questions.


Ah ok, I probably won't mess with it.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

northofdivision said:


> Screensavers, like covers on books are connectors in my opinion. I remember in the 80s there were so many great conversations of "Ooh you're reading that, how is it?" Or "I love that book". I truly miss that. To me it would be that one little piece of connection that nowadays is missing from subways and coffee shops with everyone in their own world staring at their tablets and phones.


And see, I talk to people all the time who have a Kindle. . The Kindle itself is enough of a connector for me. And then I tell them about KBoards. . On the other hand, when I'm reading, even when I was reading paper books, I hated having people interrupt me to ask about the book. 

But yeah, options are good.

Betsy


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I hear that a lot in forums; that people hate to have people interrupt their reading to ask about the book.

If I go off somewhere to be alone and read quietly I'm bothered by people thinking I want company, but if they simply ask about the book and let me give them a short but polite answer and end it there, or maybe even a question or two about the book, I kind of enjoy it.  If they want to keep talking after that I'm not at all shy about saying I want to get back to my book.  That's hardly ever been a problem.  People seem to accept it gracefully.

Barry


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Tough crowd. I certainly like my private time and to have my space as well. I don't think anyone likes people interrupting reading time. Just an observation of coffeeshops in NYC when people are at counters/tables about to start reading. I see a lot of people still reading paper books but yes, always nice to see people and their various Kindles.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

There are people who like talking to strangers and others who don't.  My husband would carry on a conversation with a rock.   I, on the other hand, am more like Greta Garbo. 

Betsy


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

John Hopper said:


> I think it's because the amount of effort the software tweaks would need is just not on their list of priorities - from interviews with Amazon Kindle employees, their efforts are focused on reproducing the book experience in as light and user-friendly a form as possible, and this feature, for the great majority of users is at best a nice to have, but probably for most of them, just not on their register.


But they already have the capability, otherwise we wouldn't have "special offers" and default screensavers. The code it would take to offer more options isn't huge.


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## GBear (Apr 23, 2009)

I agree with Ann. I believe that almost every project undertaken by Amazon must meet the criteria that it makes it easier for people to buy more things from Amazon. Some people take that to mean that Amazon belongs on the dark side, but in many or even most cases it benefits the customer. It's why they have great customer service and a website that's the envy of and the model for most other retailers. It's why Kindles were developed and why they sell them near cost. 

Sometimes their software (on devices and the website) makes it frustratingly easy to buy things compared to the hoops you have to go through to accomplish other things (like finding the latest firmware or getting your current digital credit), but for the most part it's still good.

Providing for the removal of SO's was probably a necessary evil just to get people to buy Kindles over other devices - many of us hate ads enough that we'd defect away from the Amazon universe. But Amazon certainly doesn't want to provide any more incentive for people to buy out of SO's. I think it's that simple.


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## kschles (Feb 10, 2011)

The ability to use a book cover as the screen saver is something I've wanted for quite a while. I did look into hacking my kindle once, glazed over as I read the directions, and decided it wasn't that big a deal. Still, it would be a nice option....in CASE ANYONE FROM AMAZON IS READING THIS THREAD. 😎


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

kschles said:


> The ability to use a book cover as the screen saver is something I've wanted for quite a while. I did look into hacking my kindle once, glazed over as I read the directions, and decided it wasn't that big a deal. Still, it would be a nice option....in CASE ANYONE FROM AMAZON IS READING THIS THREAD. &#128526;


A better choice would be to send Amazon feedback at [email protected] You've got a better chance of someone actually reading your request.  Not necessarily of implementing it, but at least of reading it.

Betsy


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Well said, Gbear. I think you're right on this one. Kobo, Sony and Nook all allow/allowed custom screensavers but their customer service was lacking comparatively. This is not unlike the world of Apple vs Android and their view of customer freedom/individuality. The open source software vs curated software infrastructure argument. Interesting, for sure. Great service while sacrificing a few things. Well worth it for something like this perhaps.



GBear said:


> I agree with Ann. I believe that almost every project undertaken by Amazon must meet the criteria that it makes it easier for people to buy more things from Amazon. Some people take that to mean that Amazon belongs on the dark side, but in many or even most cases it benefits the customer. It's why they have great customer service and a website that's the envy of and the model for most other retailers. It's why Kindles were developed and why they sell them near cost.
> 
> Sometimes their software (on devices and the website) makes it frustratingly easy to buy things compared to the hoops you have to go through to accomplish other things (like finding the latest firmware or getting your current digital credit), but for the most part it's still good.
> 
> Providing for the removal of SO's was probably a necessary evil just to get people to buy Kindles over other devices - many of us hate ads enough that we'd defect away from the Amazon universe. But Amazon certainly doesn't want to provide any more incentive for people to buy out of SO's. I think it's that simple.


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## adriaja (Jul 1, 2013)

For me, to have the cover of the book I'm reading is so important, that I've waited till it was an option (tweaking it like on MR guidelines) before I bought mine three days ago. And now, I'm really happy!! I've done so for all my previous kindles


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

I like that. "Tweaking it" sounds much better than "jailbreaking" or "hacking".



adriaja said:


> For me, to have the cover of the book I'm reading is so important, that I've waited till it was an option (tweaking it like on MR guidelines) before I bought mine three days ago. And now, I'm really happy!! I've done so for all my previous kindles


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## kschles (Feb 10, 2011)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> A better choice would be to send Amazon feedback at [email protected] You've got a better chance of someone actually reading your request.  Not necessarily of implementing it, but at least of reading it.
> 
> Betsy


Done and done. I'll let y'all know if I receive any kind of coherent or hopeful response.


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## GirlFriday (Jul 15, 2013)

northofdivision said:


> Below, my Oasis with cover screensaver:


That screensaver would annoy me because it doesn't go all the way to the sides and the edges are cut off. Otherwise those kinds of screensavers would be great!


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## kschles (Feb 10, 2011)

The response to my screen saver inquiry was predictable, but at least they know about their customer's wishes.

--->I've forwarded your message along with your comments to our Kindle development team and Kindle Specialists as I know they'll want to read your message, so that they can take notice of it, take them into consideration and make sure they were implemented in near future as we plan for improvements. 

We definitely value your opinion and suggestions and will continue to listen and respond to our customers' concerns.We will make every effort to evaluate the information you have provided, and try our level best to lead it to program changes or enhancements.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Although it might be nice, I rarely even get a glimpse at my screen savers. When its in cover, by the time I open it, its already gone and if its out of cover, it happens so fast that by the time my eyes go to it after pushing the button, its gone too. 

But I guess it would be nice if it was an option. I never cared what anyone else thought about my reading. I read romance for a long time and always dragged around my paperbacks with of without Fabio. Don't care. I like those covers and I kind of miss them now. 

I would never do any jail breaking, hacking or tweaking to my expensive kindles though. Just the chance of ending up with a brick would not be worth it to me to take that risk. I wouldn't be able to fix it. I leave the fiddling to those that know what they are doing.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> ...they want to be able to sell the ad space
> 
> and so they don't want to do anything that would tend to limit the number of people who use the [special offers]. Because, almost certainly, if they had either of these options -- cover of book you're reading or themed packs for purchase -- there would be a significant number of Kindleers who would buy out of SOs, which would reduce the number of eyeballs Amazon could 'promise' and thus the amount they could charge for the ads. Amazon would, presumably, make $20 per buy out, but that's probably not as much as they make on the ad sales.


This was my thought as to the answer, as well.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

GirlFriday said:


> That screensaver would annoy me because it doesn't go all the way to the sides and the edges are cut off. Otherwise those kinds of screensavers would be great!


Haha. Agreed, GirlFriday. When I convert epub to mobi it does that sometimes. I figured it would be a fast read so I didn't bother to fix it.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

The term "hacking" was a perfectly respectable word until the press got hold of it.  A hacker was someone clever enough to solve especially difficult problems.  It was a term of honor among programmers.  Then when the crackers and other nut cases started making the news the press used the wrong term to describe them and it stuck.

"Jailbreaking" doesn't have the same noble history but when we buy a device and want it to do something other than what the manufacturer intended we have to first jailbreak it.  That's only needed because they sell us stuff with padlocks.  It's a way to control their customers even though their reasons aren't really bad ones.  Still, if I buy something I feel like I have the right to do whatever I want with it and to me the idea of jailbreaking is completely moral and legitimate.  The idea that it's somehow less than respectabile is promoted by the manufacturers and vendors as a way to strenthen their control.

I'm not trying to say manufacturers are doing something wrong.  They're not.  And neither is someone who wants to decide for himself how to use the device he bought and paid for.

In the grand scheme of things tweaking is the minor adjustments to suit that anyone can do.  Hacking and jailbreaking are a bit more difficult and require a bit more knowledge and talent and are, I think, the more honorable terms.

Barry


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Is it possible that the issue is a copyright issue?  Since we don't "Own" the book,  would separating the cover art from the book be a violation? Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> Is it possible that the issue is a copyright issue? Since we don't "Own" the book, would separating the cover art from the book be a violation? Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know.


It is possible that it would require additional licensing. I don't know. Interesting point.

Betsy


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I doubt that there are copyright problems with displaying the cover as a screensaver since Kobo does it.

Barry


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

barryem said:


> I doubt that there are copyright problems with displaying the cover as a screensaver since Kobo does it.
> 
> Barry


Kobo could have a different licensing agreement. We don't really know.

Betsy


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Kobo could have a different licensing agreement. We don't really know.


That's true.

Barry


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