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Customers printing out ebooks

by Laura B
20 replies
I got an e-mail from someone who bought my course and wants my permission to print it out at Kinko's. Kinko's won't do it without permission from the copyright owner, which actually surprises me because I didn't realize they pay that much attention to the issue.

Anyway, those of you who have created info products, have you gotten this request and what was your answer? I certainly wouldn't object if they printed it out at home, so is there any reason I should refuse permission to get it done at a print shop?
#customers #ebooks #printing
  • Profile picture of the author Ron Douglas
    I've never heard that one before. The Kinkos I used to go to in Queens, NY would not give a frog's fat ass about the copyright LOL.

    I would most certainly let her print it out. As long as she's not trying to print out like 100 copies and sell them or something.

    Tell her to use Staples instead. I used to work there in a past life and they care even less than Kinkos.
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    • Profile picture of the author ContentArticleWriter
      Originally Posted by Ron Douglas View Post

      I've never heard that one before. The Kinkos I used to go to in Queens, NY would not give a frog's fat ass about the copyright LOL.

      I would most certainly let her print it out. As long as she's not trying to print out like 100 copies and sell them or something.

      Tell her to use Staples instead. I used to work there in a past life and they care even less than Kinkos.
      LOL... I agree. I think this Kinko's is probably in a very proper, follow all the copyright laws and rules, region. I have been to Office Max in some areas that simply do not ask questions either. I guess it also depends on how the employees are trained.

      As for printing it out, I have to agree with Ron in that as well; as long as she isn't trying to print out multiple copies and have them bound, I do not see it being such a big deal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Laura B
    Thanks, Ron. Yeah, I figured if they're going to sell copies, it'd be easier to just distribute the PDF, so I'm not really worried that they're going to pass them out, although the thought crossed my mind. However, the person was honest enough to ask me, so I guess that's a good sign!

    I just wondered if I am missing some obvious drawback to allowing it, because I'm still learning the ropes of selling an info product. I appreciate your input.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Laura, I always let customers print my ebooks because there are a lot of people that would rather read them offline. I don't seen any drawback to letting a service print them for the customer.
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    • Profile picture of the author Laura B
      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      Laura, I always let customers print my ebooks because there are a lot of people that would rather read them offline. I don't seen any drawback to letting a service print them for the customer.
      I'm one of those people - even on my 20" Mac screen, it's hard to have a PDF open to read from and then do stuff in other windows, so I can certainly see why this person wants to.
      Originally Posted by Roxanne McHenry View Post

      Anybody add a special use permission to the ebook copyright or in the confirmation e-mail then?
      Good thinking! I'd like to hear if anyone has done that too. Seems like it might be a good idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author Roxanne McHenry
    I always just assumed that they would be printed out for personal use at home, so this is a good question.

    I've never had a buyer ask me this on my e-books, although I've thought about using a local print shop to print off some special PDFs (miniatures in color on paper) myself.

    Anybody add a special use permission to the ebook copyright or in the confirmation e-mail then?
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    • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
      Originally Posted by Roxanne McHenry View Post

      Anybody add a special use permission to the ebook copyright or in the confirmation e-mail then?
      I am sure i have read somewhere in an e book, in the terms of use that permission for a printed copy was granted for private use only.
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  • Profile picture of the author tylerdrun
    What's KINKOS?

    Don't tell me that you have printing shops that don't allow you to print books even if you pay them. We gotta pay Rs.3 per sheet over a.k.a 1/15th of a US Dollar. Around 5cents I think...

    But I do it at home. Just a cartridge refill and print.
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  • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
    Yup.. let her go for it... I'm always printing out content to read from a page. I usually take it fishing with me... not only I.M. content.



    Jay
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  • Profile picture of the author craigc1980
    Originally Posted by Laura B View Post

    I got an e-mail from someone who bought my course and wants my permission to print it out at Kinko's. Kinko's won't do it without permission from the copyright owner, which actually surprises me because I didn't realize they pay that much attention to the issue.

    Anyway, those of you who have created info products, have you gotten this request and what was your answer? I certainly wouldn't object if they printed it out at home, so is there any reason I should refuse permission to get it done at a print shop?
    Yes printing is fine in my eyes.

    Also i have come across this same issue.

    I actually had an e-book copied to a disk that i paid for and wanted to print it out for easy reading.

    Anyway Walgreen's wouldn't allow it.

    I couldn't believe it. I understand if it was like legal government issued documents or something like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
    Maybe you could write a little agreement stating that they're able to print 1 copy, and sign it, make it into a .pdf and send them that to take to Kinko's?

    I generally just state on the disclaimer page of some of my ebooks (although sometimes i do forget) that the end user may print a copy for personal use. I would assume that would be good enough for any kinko's.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve Holmes
      Originally Posted by mr2monster View Post

      Maybe you could write a little agreement stating that they're able to print 1 copy, and sign it, make it into a .pdf and send them that to take to Kinko's?

      I generally just state on the disclaimer page of some of my ebooks (although sometimes i do forget) that the end user may print a copy for personal use. I would assume that would be good enough for any kinko's.
      Great idea
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  • Profile picture of the author MassiveMarketer
    Yeah it should be ok if it'll just be 1 copy - for personal use. However, printing as if he/she'll be distributing your ebook is a different story. It's a good thing Kinko's did that - to protect you as well. Once they have a hard copy of your ebook, it would be much easier to reproduce them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Diver's
    Hi Laura, for personal use, that sounds all right.. why not you sell hard copy version of your ebooks
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  • Profile picture of the author Luke Graham
    Originally Posted by Laura B View Post

    I got an e-mail from someone who bought my course and wants my permission to print it out at Kinko's. Kinko's won't do it without permission from the copyright owner, which actually surprises me because I didn't realize they pay that much attention to the issue.
    Hi Laura,

    A similar shop (in the UK) I was in some time ago refused to do a copy of a photograph of a painting because the photographer didnt own the copyright to the original painting. (Actually, he did, but since he couldnt prove on the day they refused to do this for him).

    Its a tad far fetched but im sure someone must have sued for this at some point :rolleyes:

    That said, i have included - and also have some others i've purchased - a disclaimer that state its fine to print off for personal use (yadda yadda). Im not a lawyer by any means but i see no harm in that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Laura B
    Thank you all for your comments. I agree that a printed statement in the pdf that they can make one personal hard copy should work just fine. I do plan on putting my book into hard copy format to sell also, but I just haven't had time to do it.

    Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
    Originally Posted by cjmo75 View Post

    As far as I'm concerned, once the customer purchases the ebook, they have every right to print it out. If it were me, I wouldn't even ask just find another copy store or print it out myself. The Kinko's employee must have been on a power trip that day or something.
    Actually, this is standard operating procedure at Kinko's since they were sued about it a while back. ;-)

    In my niche (needlework) several segments of the industry have been destroyed (literally) due to illegal copying, involving both digital and print copies.

    It is now pretty much industry standard to include information about this issue on the patterns themselves.

    For instance, in my alphabet books, I include this in the footer for each graph:

    *Permission is granted to enlarge single copy, solely for use as a Stitcher's Aid. *

    Needless to say, as someone who has seen an entire industry adversely affected, I am quite grateful that companies such as Kinko's are taking these measures. ;-)

    Tink
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  • Profile picture of the author lcombs
    I use printing out as many copies as you want a selling point for ebooks.

    I state it as an advantage of digital download. And point out that if one copy gets lost or damaged they can print another.

    Just like buying a hard cover book I expect that they would share it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Techology
    If you ever find the time to format your ebook for print, you coul use a service like lulu.com and get famous on Amazon (well, perhaps). Two members of my family have both become published authors that way. Good luck.
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