# What happens to her Kindle Books when a Kindle owner dies?



## SeymourKopath (Jul 24, 2012)

If the survivors de-register the Kindle, I'm pretty sure the Kindle books on the device are no longer available to whoever inherits the Kindle. Correct?

But, what if the original owner plans in advance whom she would like to pass her Kindle on to? Can she inform that person of her decision and instruct him how to access her Amazon account so that after the original owner dies, the new owner can go into the Amazon account, change the one-click credit card information and continue to use the account? Clearly this would have to be someone the original owner trusts.

I find Amazon's current policy of not being able to pass on our eBooks to someone else after we're finished with them reprehensible. Any physical books that I've acquired can be passed on to whomever I want. Why not Amazon's eBooks? I hope nobody's under the delusion that they are *buying* Kindle books from Amazon. We're merely buying a license to use them as long as our Amazon account is open and in good standing.


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## Brownskins (Nov 18, 2011)

T&C's always help me in these situations.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Some people download their books to their computers. Amazon can't do anything about those books, right? Whoever gets the computer would get the books. I suppose they could be saved on flashdrives too. However, I haven't actually done any of that so I don't know for sure if it works that way.


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## SeymourKopath (Jul 24, 2012)

Mary, I'm somewhat familiar with the idea of downloading books to a computer. And of course those files can then be copied onto a flash drive. I do it all the time with books I acquire from sources such as the Gutenberg Project, the Internet Archive, Baen Books, and others. 

But it is my underanding that books acquired from Amazon are tied to the account that bought them (even if they are "bought" for free). The books' files are coded in such a way that they can't be copied to a Kindle registered to a different account. Is my understanding incorrect? It would be wonderful if it is.


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## LaraAmber (Feb 24, 2009)

Honestly your question is something no one here is probably qualified to answer.  The problem has several components:

1. Inheritance laws and property laws are very different even going state to state, let alone country to country.  So no one can really make a blanket response over the internet.
2. Electronic media and accounts as parts of inheritances is something that is still very new.  It really takes a landmark case or the passing of a law to have a real definitive answer on what a judge would rule if this showed up in court.    
3. Because of 1 and 2 above, what a company might do on its own to keep happy customers can vary.  Unless Amazon publishes an official inheritance policy people might get very different answers depending on the CSR they get, how nice they were to them, your relationship with the deceased (spouse vs. friend), how much standing the potential inheritor has as a customer, and how big of a Kindle account we're talking about (5 books or 5,000), and how much work it would involve for their team.  Chances are the person contacting them would need to provide proof that the original owner is deceased and that the new owner has legal standing: a copy of the will and proof of being the recipient or the executor.  So I would say at a minimum: death certificate, will, notarized signed affidavit and copy of ID.


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## SeymourKopath (Jul 24, 2012)

Very interesting and thought-provoking. Quite a bit to consider. Thanks for your comments, LaraAmber.


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## SusanCassidy (Nov 9, 2008)

It is not just devices on different accounts, but different devices on the same account cannot use ebooks purchased for the first device, due to DRM.

I don't think there would be anything wrong with inheriting an account, if the email address and password were passed down to someone.  It's unlikely that Amazon would know that the original owner has died.  You might have to inherit the email address as well, though.  I read a thread the other day where someone was saying that if they changed the email address on the account, they could no longer access the books originally purchased with the old email address.  I don't know if that is the case, but that's something I read.  You could ask Kindle Customer Support, though.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

SusanCassidy said:


> It is not just devices on different accounts, but different devices on the same account cannot use ebooks purchased for the first device, due to DRM.
> 
> I don't think there would be anything wrong with inheriting an account, if the email address and password were passed down to someone. It's unlikely that Amazon would know that the original owner has died. You might have to inherit the email address as well, though. I read a thread the other day where someone was saying that if they changed the email address on the account, they could no longer access the books originally purchased with the old email address. I don't know if that is the case, but that's something I read. You could ask Kindle Customer Support, though.


On Amazon you can have your books on up to 6 different devices DRM or not. You can transfer books between devices or remove from the first device and the license reverts back to the cloud.

I have also changed the email at Amazon and it worked.
Kobo won't let you change your e-mail.
Kobo is also the one that if you have a first generation e-reader and remove the book from the device, it is gone from your library too. I learned that the hard way.

You cannot change anything on the NOOK, it is all tied to one specific credit card.


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## SusanCassidy (Nov 9, 2008)

I was replying to the poster (Seymour Kopath) that said "The books' files are coded in such a way that they can't be copied to a Kindle registered to a different account. Is my understanding incorrect?".  He was mistaken.  It isn't different accounts, it is different devices, even on the same account.


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## SeymourKopath (Jul 24, 2012)

SusanCassidy said:


> It is not just devices on different accounts, but different devices on the same account cannot use ebooks purchased for the first device, due to DRM.


Susan, I have to agree with cinisajoy on this issue. If I buy a Kindle book and have it delivered to my Touch, I can later go to the Manage Your Kindle section of my Amazon account and have that book delivered to my Fire, or to my wife's Touch, or to my wife's Fire. All four devices are registered under the *same account*. To be clear, the same book can be resident on all four devices simultaneously. We have done this many times. In fact, cinisjoy indicates you can have a book on up to six devices at the same time, as long as all the devices are registered to the same account.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Both things are true to some extent.  You can go to Manage Your Kindle or the archives of any Kindle device on the same account and download a book to the devices on the same account up to the number of licenses available for that book.  If a book has a limit of six (the default, I believe) it can be deleted from one device and free up a license again to be delivered to a different device.

What Susan says is also correct, the download is coded for the device to which it is sent.  For example, if I download a book to my Kindle Keyboard and then save the book to my computer or a thumbdrive for backup, I cannot turn around and download the book from the thumbdrive to my husband's Paperwhite even though it is registered to the same account.  Well, I can, but it won't open on the Paperwhite because it is coded for my KK.  Unless you strip the DRM (which we don't discuss here at KB).  He has to pull it from the archives either on his device or send it from MYK.


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## Brownskins (Nov 18, 2011)

I have pasted below some of the T&C's I believe are applicable to your question. Hope this helps.

Use of Kindle Content. Upon your download of Kindle Content and payment of any applicable fees (including applicable taxes), the Content Provider grants you *a non-exclusive right* to view, use, and display such Kindle Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Kindle or a Reading Application or as otherwise permitted as part of the Service, solely on the number of Kindles or Supported Devices specified in the Kindle Store, and solely *for your personal*, non-commercial use. *Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider. *

Limitations. Unless specifically indicated otherwise, you may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense, *or otherwise assign any rights to the Kindle Content or any portion of it to any third party*, and you may not remove or modify any proprietary notices or labels on the Kindle Content. In addition, you may not bypass, modify, defeat, or circumvent security features that protect the Kindle Content.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

FWIW, my intention is to make sure someone besides me knows my amazon log in information.  So if something happens to me, they can take over my account and 'have' my books.  Or, they can close the account and that's the end of it. I'm actually not going to worry about it much.

I don't believe that there is any sort of 'policy', but I do believe it's the case that, at this time, books purchased on one account can NOT be transferred to another account.  AND a given device can only be registered to one account at a time and the act of registering it will, by default, remove any amazon purchased content from another account that might be on it.

I am still waiting for the Judge Judy episode where people are arguing over who gets to keep the kindle account when they separate acrimoniously.  On second thought, though, most of the people on that show can probably barely read.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

I do think the notion of digital rights is going to evolve in coming years. So many people have heavy investments in books, music, movies, software, etc and from some articles I've read the laws have not kept up with the technology developments. If memory serves, actor Bruce Willis was part of one effort to challenge existing licensing laws. 

I think we'll see changes in our lifetime. I'd like to have the right to pass on digital content to heirs... but as others have noted in this thread, that is currently not the case. 

So my plan is the same as Ann's... pass on my account access and hope that nobody decides to shut down the accounts!


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

I'M TAKING MY KINDLE WITH ME!

I have already informed my wife to run an electrical extension cord from an outlet near our chosen gravesites, and right into the coffin. I have a list of every kindle book I read with a grade form 1 to 10. I want only 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s loaded on the k. Make sure it is a PW, as it will get pretty dark in there.

Steve


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

stevene9 said:


> I'M TAKING MY KINDLE WITH ME!
> 
> I have already informed my wife to run an electrical extension cord from an outlet near our chosen gravesites, and right into the coffin. I have a list of every kindle book I read with a grade form 1 to 10. I want only 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s loaded on the k. Make sure it is a PW, as it will get pretty dark in there.
> 
> Steve


The extension cord isn't necessary. . . just a charger that runs from your kindle to the surface and a small solar panel. Then you're all set.


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## Meka (Sep 8, 2011)

stevene9 said:


> I'M TAKING MY KINDLE WITH ME!
> 
> I have already informed my wife to run an electrical extension cord from an outlet near our chosen gravesites, and right into the coffin. I have a list of every kindle book I read with a grade form 1 to 10. I want only 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s loaded on the k. Make sure it is a PW, as it will get pretty dark in there.
> 
> Steve


Lol...I like your thinking!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I have thought about that. But in reality, its just me and my husband. He doesn't read a lot of books and he wouldn't read the ones I bought. I have no kids to pass them down and all of my other family is in another country and they don't speak english well enough to read it. Not that the books could probably be taken out of this country legally anyway. 

I basically have resigned myself early on that what I am buying on my kindle account are licenses to read books. Knowing that I still bought them as I could finally enjoy reading again on my Kindle. That is worth about almost anything to me. 

And if you do pass on your amazon account, you can only change the email and password right? The actual name on the account is set. 

I am thinking though. If all the kindle books I bought were actual paper books and if I die, they would be packed in a box and just given away or thrown away anyway. So whats the difference really. I never got much of anything, or nothing, when I tried selling used books. So at least the kindle books won't have to be packed up, stored or disposed of by anyone when I die.


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## Pickett (Jan 6, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> FWIW, my intention is to make sure someone besides me knows my amazon log in information.


My plan is the same as Ann's; I will die the same day Amazon does, (unless Amazon meets an early demise.) Until then, Pickett (or someone so named!) will be logging in and reading all her Kindle content. Fortunately, longevity runs in my family.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> And if you do pass on your amazon account, you can only change the email and password right? The actual name on the account is set.


I think you could change the name too. Like, right now, when I go to Amazon it says "Hello, Ann". But I think I can change that . . checking . . . yes! There's a 'change account settings' that lets me edit my name, email, password, and mobile phone number.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I think you could change the name too. Like, right now, when I go to Amazon it says "Hello, Ann". But I think I can change that . . checking . . . yes! There's a 'change account settings' that lets me edit my name, email, password, and mobile phone number.


Ah, I never checked on the name. So that would certainly help someone take over an account completely then.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> Ah, I never checked on the name. So that would certainly help someone take over an account completely then.


Yep. And I have saved the password in my browser, so if I die tomorrow, the Hubs can log in to my account and easily change it.


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## SeymourKopath (Jul 24, 2012)

stevene9 said:


> I'M TAKING MY KINDLE WITH ME!
> 
> I have already informed my wife to run an electrical extension cord from an outlet near our chosen gravesites, and right into the coffin. I have a list of every kindle book I read with a grade form 1 to 10. I want only 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s loaded on the k. Make sure it is a PW, as it will get pretty dark in there.


LOL! I just might change my plan to get cremated.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> The extension cord isn't necessary. . . just a charger that runs from your kindle to the surface and a small solar panel. Then you're all set.


Solar panel, what a great idea. I have to check out the tree/shadow situation though. It is kind of windy there, maybe solar augmented with a small windmill. Do you think the cemetary would mind?

Steve


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## SeymourKopath (Jul 24, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> The extension cord isn't necessary. . . just a charger that runs from your kindle to the surface and a small solar panel. Then you're all set.


You don't even need that. Create a small nuclear reactor (with the necessary USB port for connecting it to your Kindle), provide it with enough nuclear fuel to last for centuries, or even millennia, load up your Kindle with all the books you'll possibly want to read and you're all set! No messy wires and the coffin provides the shielding needed to protect anybody who comes near your grave site from any nasty radiation. 

edit: Just be sure to turn off the Kindle's wireless connectivity before you go so Amazon can't pull a "1984" on you.


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## LaraAmber (Feb 24, 2009)

stevene9 said:


> Solar panel, what a great idea. I have to check out the tree/shadow situation though. It is kind of windy there, maybe solar augmented with a small windmill. Do you think the cemetary would mind?
> 
> Steve


If you aren't embalmed you can just use the gases from decomposition as fuel.

But no, they won't mind. Any excuse to charge you more.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

SeymourKopath said:


> You don't even need that. Create a small nuclear reactor (with the necessary USB port for connecting it to your Kindle), provide it with enough nuclear fuel to last for centuries, or even millennia, load up your Kindle with all the books you'll possibly want to read and you're all set! No messy wires and the coffin provides the shielding needed to protect anybody who comes near your grave site from any nasty radiation.
> 
> edit: Just be sure to turn off the Kindle's wireless connectivity before you go so Amazon can't pull a "1984" on you.


Here's the answer - a generator running on natural gas. Just tap into a local pipeline and once a week have it recharge the PW.

STeve


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Atunah said:


> I am thinking though. If all the kindle books I bought were actual paper books and if I die, they would be packed in a box and just given away or thrown away anyway. So whats the difference really. I never got much of anything, or nothing, when I tried selling used books. So at least the kindle books won't have to be packed up, stored or disposed of by anyone when I die.


This. I just don't think this is much of an issue for most people. I believe that some Kindlers tend to vastly overestimate the value that their books have to anyone but themselves. If I want to read a book, I buy it for myself. I'm certainly not waiting around for my parents to die so that I can read their copy. Yes, there are some books in my parents' house that I would like to have one day, but more for beauty/collectability reasons than because I'm lacking in reading material.


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## Pickett (Jan 6, 2011)

marianneg said:


> I believe that some Kindlers tend to vastly overestimate the value that their books have to anyone but themselves.


This made me think:whoever inherits my kindle collection will have to wade through Manage Your Kindle to find out what is in there. Just a few minutes of that will make them decide it isn't worth it. I don't even know what I have. Could that be a reason Amazon has never improved/come up with a better method than MYK?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

marianneg said:


> This. I just don't think this is much of an issue for most people. I believe that some Kindlers tend to vastly overestimate the value that their books have to anyone but themselves. If I want to read a book, I buy it for myself. I'm certainly not waiting around for my parents to die so that I can read their copy. Yes, there are some books in my parents' house that I would like to have one day, but more for beauty/collectability reasons than because I'm lacking in reading material.


This. I've emptied out two households of their books. And yes, we did keep a few, because we could. Some of those we've since gotten rid of. If we hadn't been able to keep them, it wouldn't have been a big deal.

Betsy


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

LaraAmber said:


> If you aren't embalmed you can just use the gases from decomposition as fuel.
> 
> But no, they won't mind. Any excuse to charge you more.


On the basis of the old "electricity from a potato" experiment, I just wonder whether if you had a zinc electrode and a copper electrode inserted into your body after you died, there would be enough current generated as you decompose to charge your Kindle?

In fact, if your coffin is lead, would that act as one of the electrodes??


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