Amazon recently changed the wording on their website when it comes to buying Kindle ebooks.

As the screenshot above shows, they now have a disclaimer under the buy now button that says, “By placing your order, you’re purchasing a license to the content and you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use”.

It also says that same thing when shopping for Kindle ebooks directly from the store on Kindle ereaders and Kindle apps.

The funny thing is they only appear to be doing that in the US. I checked Amazon UK and Amazon CA and both show the old disclaimer that just says, “By clicking the above button, you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use”.

If you click the terms of use link you’ll find a page full of legal disclaimers indicating you’re buying a license to access Kindle content, but they don’t openly disclose it on product pages under the buy button like on the Amazon US website.

I read somewhere about a new law that was passed in California where companies have to “conspicuously” disclose that customers are buying a license when it comes to digital media like ebooks, so that’s likely the reason why Amazon made the change.

But not all ebook stores are following the same path. Kobo still just has a link to their terms of sale page when you go to checkout. Apple doesn’t say anything about licenses at all when trying to buy an ebook from them. Google doesn’t say anything about it on their ebook product pages, but they do say you’re purchasing a license before confirming the purchase, with a link to their terms of service.

Some people still don’t know that when buying digital content you’re buying a license to view said content, not the actual content itself. You don’t actually “own” the ebooks you purchase; you just own the rights to view them. It’s a distinction that applies to digital media since you can’t physically own it.

I think it’s a good idea for companies to openly disclose that fact before buying. Nobody is going to read through those ridiculous TOS pages before purchasing something.