One of the best things about copyright law is that it expires 50 years after the author has passed away. This means that all the great classics that were written a few decades ago can be distributed without paying heed to the stringent restrictions of copyright law. Project Gutenberg has steadily been compiling electronic versions of books which are no longer bound by copyright restrictions and the website has recently provided these books in the Kindle format.

So which titles are free?

The project Gutenberg website has over 29 000 titles which can be downloaded directly onto your Kindle. You can easily peruse the available e-books by searching an author’s name or entering the title of a specific book that you want.

Is it legal?

Movie and music piracy has illustrated that most people do not care about the legality of stealing digitalized forms of art, but there are still some people who have reserves about any type of theft. The few law-abiding citizens within the extensive internet community should rest assured that websites like Project Gutenberg remain within the strict bounds of the law and you can therefore engage in guilt-free downloading.

How does the law work?

Books are only protected by copyright law until 50 years after the author’s death. Any book that is older than this can be distributed freely by any publisher. Classic novels have always been more affordable than their contemporary counterparts because the overhead of royalties has been eliminated.

Does Amazon have any free titles?

You can download numerous free titles directly from the Amazon website if you would prefer this. The reliability of the Amazon system might make this a better option, but if you can’t find the title you are looking for, then you should definitely refer to Gutenberg catalogue of free e-books.

Which free E-books are good?

The literary canon has been constructed over centuries to ensure that best books are retained within the culture and not forgotten. Generally, if a book forms part of the canon, it will have a great deal of literary merit, but this does not necessarily mean that you will like it. The wide array of classic books means that you will have to do some research and decide what it is that you would like to read. Joyce might appeal to some people, but the avid Danielle Steele reader will probably become lost under the layered cross referencing of the Irish genius. Instead of spending hours perusing the shelves of a bookstore, find a free e-book and enjoy something that is regarded aesthetically important enough to be retained within our culture.

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