# How many Kindles can REALLY share the same book?



## fm_austin (Jan 2, 2010)

I've sent this question to Amazon customer support, but they haven't replied yet. Hoping the experienced users here can help...
I am new to Kindling, and 5 family members all got Kindles for Christmas so we set up a shared account so we can all read each other's purchases.

Does anyone have experience with the 6 device limit discussed on this board and at Amazon?
From the Amazon Help Site:

```
"Books can be shared between Kindles, Kindle for PC, or iPhones that are registered to the same account.
There may be limits on the number of devices (usually 6) that can simultaneously use a single book."
```
But others on this site have stated that the limit is actually 6 total devices and once that is exceeded, you have to buy the book again.

Here is what I asked Amazon:
1) what is the actual licensing policy?
2) How do I know if a book has a total device quantity restriction?
3) How do I know how many devices on my account have downloaded a book?
4) Is there any way to restore licenses that have been used for a device?

For example, I currently have 5 Kindle's registered to my account and several family members with a Kindle also have an iphone. If I load a book on my iphone, my Kindle, and my PC I might be preventing my wife from reading it on her Kindle because we used up all the licenses. If the limit is just for simultaneous use, then I'll just delete from a couple devices and someone else can read. But if the the limit is actually 6 total devices ever, then I need to be careful about where I load each book.

Anyone have real experience with this?

Thanks-


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## pomlover2586 (Feb 14, 2009)

Can't answer your question, but I'm glad you asked this- I'm interested to know the answer! BTW that must have been an expensive x-mas!!


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## Anju  (Nov 8, 2008)

There are those here that can answer your questions, now all they have to do is see your question, but those that have the knowledge usually monitor these questions pretty closely.  Good luck and nice to have a BIG Kindle Family with us!


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## RB (Nov 17, 2008)

We have about 14 kindles on our account.  We all purchase on our own credit card on the computer...we just switch the one click setting to our own card when we want to buy.

Yesterday was the first time ever that someone couldn't get the book they wanted from the archived items...in fact, it wasn't even listed in the archive on her kindle.  In total we had 107 books in the archive.  Her kindle only said 106.  
We called customer service to find out why she didn't have that book listed in her archives, and were told that it was because it was already on too many other kindles on our account.  We then deleted that book from someone elses kindle, and after a sync and check for items, it appeared on her archived items list.

Overall, it works really well for us.  Most of the time, we don't all read the same books at the same time, so as long as we delete each book from our individual kindles when we're done reading them, it leaves them available for the next person to read it.

Hope that helps!


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Wow, 14, that's really good to know.  Not that I will ever have 14 people on my account, but I would like to add my dad and my youngest son at some point.  
Thank you for the information, RB.
deb


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## lynninva (Feb 7, 2009)

drenee said:


> Wow, 14, that's really good to know. Not that I will ever have 14 people on my account, but I would like to add my dad and my youngest son at some point.
> Thank you for the information, RB.
> deb


With all the places you can use the Kindle app now, it wouldn't be too difficult to hit 14 devices on one account. I downloaded the pc Kindle app to use for cookbooks & other books that have pictures that I want to see in color. If you have an iPod device, a Kindle, and the pc app, you could end up with three devices for just one person.


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## sherylb (Oct 27, 2008)

Some books from the Kindle Store will tell you how many simultaneous devices it can be loaded on:

Format: Kindle Edition 
File Size: 694 KB 
Print Length: 288 pages 
_Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits _ 
Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2009) 
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services 
Language: English 
ASIN: B001FA0GBM

You will notice on some books this is left off and some have an unlimited usage.
You just have to look and see if it has any information.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Welcome, austin. . . .looks like you all had a Very Kindly Kristmas!

Most books have a device limit of 6.  If it's something different it'll say that on the product page in the area where it says how many pages in the print edition and how big the file is.

As far as I know, you can register as many kindles as you want to a kindle account.  I currently have 4, but it looks like RB has 14!

You can only have the book on "up to 6" devices at a time.  "Devices" includes actual Kindles, iThings, or Kindle for PC apps.  

I don't think you get a warning that you're hitting the limit, but from RB's experience it looks like once it's reached you simply can't download it to the 7th device.  But it also seems that once you've deleted it from one of the first 6 then it opens up the license again. That's good to know and I'm not sure it's been the case previously.  It doesn't sound like you have to actually deregister devices, just delete the book from one or more to free up the licenses.


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## fm_austin (Jan 2, 2010)

Thanks for everyone's speedy replies. Here is what I got back from Amazon support:


```
Regarding the Device Quantity Restriction: 
Publishers choose whether they apply digital rights management software (DRM) to their content. 
There is no limit on the number of times a title can be downloaded to a registered Kindle device or application 
(such as Kindle for iPhone or Kindle for PC), but there may be limits on the number of Kindle devices and applications 
(usually 6) that can simultaneously use a single book. If the limit is less than six Kindles devices or applications for a specific title, 
you'll see the message "Simultaneous Device usage: Up to X simultaneous devices, per publisher limits" on the website detail page.

You can check out the device quantity restriction marked as "Simultaneous Device Usage" on the Product detail page.

We specifically don't have a count as to how many downloads you've done, however you will get an alert when you exceed your limit from the system.

Once you reach the limit we are unable to restore the License again.
```
So...based on this response plus what RB stated above, it seems like as long as we delete a book from a device once we are done reading it we can "recycle" the licenses and anyone on the account can read any of the books we buy. 6 simultaneous readers is definitely reasonable.

Also, I specifically asked Amazon and they stated that "there in NO limit to the number of Kindle devices that can be registered on an account."

Take care-


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

Thanks for asking Amazon, I was wondering because my husband finally got an iphone and I need to add him to my account. I wasn't sure exactly how the licensing was currently working, since I knew they had made a change awhile back.


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## TechBotBoy (Jan 25, 2010)

Very keen to get an update on this one - thanks.

                  - Tbb


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

Thanks for letting us know! I was wondering about this myself. We only have 2 Kindles right now, but we are looking at adding 3 more this year.


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