Amazon altering the content of purchased ebooks: Difference between revisions

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Amazon allows publishers who publish e-books through their store to alter their existing works, and push such updates to the copies of e-books in user libraries, without explicit user permission, or user notification. This may be simply to correct minor errors, but in some cases can constitute substantial changes in wording, for example to make a work more politically correct. The highest profile example of this was the '''editing of Roald Dahl's books''' for British users in 2023, aimed at removing language deemed offensive or outdated.
[[Amazon]] allows publishers who publish e-books through their store to alter their existing works, and push such updates to the copies of e-books in user libraries, without explicit user permission, or user notification. This may be simply to correct minor errors, but in some cases can constitute substantial changes in wording, for example to make a work more politically correct. The highest profile example of this was the '''editing of Roald Dahl's books''' for British users in 2023, aimed at removing language deemed offensive or outdated.


==Post-purchase e-book edits==
==Post-purchase e-book edits==
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Clarissa Aykroyd, a children's publishing professional, described the automatic updates as feeling "Orwellian," saying she assumed users would be given the option on whether to download the original version or the newly sanitized versions given how significant the changes were. The forced updates led her to become "weary of ebooks."<ref name="times1" />
Clarissa Aykroyd, a children's publishing professional, described the automatic updates as feeling "Orwellian," saying she assumed users would be given the option on whether to download the original version or the newly sanitized versions given how significant the changes were. The forced updates led her to become "weary of ebooks."<ref name="times1" />


==Public response==
==Public response==
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Spelling out what Dahl said above: "I don't give a bugger"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/footlights/docs/depaul_-_the_witches|title=The Witches|publisher=The Theatre School at DePaul University (2011)|author=Roald Dahl|date=1983}}</ref>
Spelling out what Dahl said above: "I don't give a bugger"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/footlights/docs/depaul_-_the_witches|title=The Witches|publisher=The Theatre School at DePaul University (2011)|author=Roald Dahl|date=1983}}</ref>


==Company response==
==Company response==
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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


{{IncidentCargo
{{IncidentCargo
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|Description=Amazon automatically allows publishers to make substantial editorial changes to users' purchased books
|Description=Amazon automatically allows publishers to make substantial editorial changes to users' purchased books
}}
}}
[[Category:Amazon]]