Is it legal to remove DRM from a Kindle ebook?

Hi
Sorry still new to this ebook lark but have just installed Calibre and would be nice to share with friends/family my Kindle Paperwhite ebooks in pdf (or other ebook) format. According to this i can remove the Kindle DRM using a calibre plugin and freely convert my Kindle ebooks to whatever format i require. But is it legal to do this? If not, why? My Kindle ebooks cost almost the same as the hard copies, surely i should be able to do what i want with the ebooks since i own them? I know others can read my purchased Kiindle ebooks using the Kindle for PC app but i do NOT want to do this. I guess removing DRM and then mass-sharing ebooks via torrents, rapidshare etc would be illegal but interested to know if the same applies when sharing amongst friends or family, just like i could with a real book (obviously one at a time).
Cheers

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

But is it legal to do this?

No.

If not, why?

Copyright law, it's in an ebook and it's also printed inside a hardcopy book.

My Kindle ebooks cost almost the same as the hard copies, surely i should be able to do what i want with the ebooks since i own them?

But you can't do as you like with a hardcopy book... You can let other people read them in your home or you can lend them the actual book, and then you can't read it until you get it back.

Same applies to ebooks from Amazon.

One thing you definitely can't do legally with a hard copy book is photocopy it and give the copies away- that's essentially what you would doing with an ebook if you removed the DRM and gave copies away.

Yes, it's ok to remove DRM in this country. The copyright industry will not take action against copying for personal use, however your proposed use is not personal use so probably violates copyright.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

The copyright industry will not take action against copying for personal use...

That doesn't automatically make it legal, but it's a fair point.

Thanks for explaining Bill

After I'd posted that I thought of another (possibly better) analogy- when you buy a book then yes, you own the book- the paper, ink, glue in the binding, the gold leaf on the cover if that's your thing

And yes, you can do as you like with it, from putting it in a bank vault to hanging the pages on a nail in the smallest room.

But the reason you bought the book, ie the content (story, pictures, recipes whatever) - that still belongs to the copyright holder.

An ebook is pure content!

I had a thought (it happens sometimes ) and had a look at the copyright notice in a book I happened to have to hand.

it included the following:

... shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent...

So it would seem that my comment that it could be lent was wrong, and that most charity shops, church bazaars etc are routinely breaking the law

surely i should be able to do what i want with the ebooks since i own them?

I think you'll find that you have licensed the content, rather than "bought" it.

Amazon have pulled books from Kindle remotely, including (ironically) Orwell's 1984.

"Upon your payment of the applicable fees set by Amazon, Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Device or as authorized by Amazon as part of the Service and solely for your personal, non-commercial use."

In reference to www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200549320:

Kindle books can be loaned to another reader for a period of 14 days. The borrower does not need to own a Kindle -- Kindle books can also be read using our free Kindle reading applications for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android devices. Not all books are lendable -- it is up to the publisher or rights holder to determine which titles are eligible for lending. The lender will not be able to read the book during the loan period. Books can only be loaned once, and subscription content is not currently available for lending.

It's all getting a bit complex.

In reply to a post by yarwell:

Amazon have pulled books from Kindle remotely, including (ironically) Orwell's 1984.

I think they got rapped over the knuckles for it too, though I don't know the details.

Quite right too, "permanent" does not mean "until we change our mind"