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I live in Canada, and I currently use a Sony Reader. My family keeps giving me Chapters/Indigo gift cards to buy books with, which used to be great when I had a Kobo reader and could get ebooks that way.
However, I have discovered that the Adobe DRM that Kobo/Chapters/Indigo use for their ebooks works in such a way that it isn't actually possible for me to put those books on my Sony Reader without removing the DRM.
This is incredibly unfortunate, as now I have books that I can't read unless I use Kobo's mobile/desktop apps. I know removing DRM is, well, not exactly looked positively upon by the companies, but do I have a legal leg to stand on if I am only removing the DRM for my own personal use, once I have already paid for a copy of the ebook?
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Buying an ebook is not the same as renting a car. Buying means ownership. Renting means borrowing for a period of time. Then if I am buying an ebook then I am going to remove the drm. The right of ownership is the buyer. An ebook is no different than a physical book. Yes you can legally remove the drm in Canada.
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Well, according to this blog, it says Bill C-11 (Copyright Modernization Act, which amends the existing provisions of the Copyright Act) has made it illegal to break DRM in Canada.
An excerpt from the actual Bill C-11 (Section 1f):
Bill C-11 prohibits the circumvention of any access control installed
on a work, performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or a
sound recording, even if the work subject to the digital lock is
legally acquired.
The digital lock prohibitions in the Act could potentially “trump” or
prevail over various exceptions in the Copyright Act, e.g. the fair
dealing or educational exceptions.
Bummer...
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You should read through the license agreement for the books, but it is probably the case that you don't own the books after get them, you just have the right to use them. And there are restrictions on what you can do with them and removing the DRM is probably not within your rights.
Just like you can pimp your own car, something you cannot do with a rental.
But without the exact text of the agreement under which you get your books, the exact extent of the limitations you (have to) agree upon is difficult to say. (Including a link in the question might get you some more specific answers).
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