This is the big reason why we don't own ebooks
peter.suber's bookmarks 2019-04-20
Summary:
"Whenever you purchase an ebooks from a major retailer, you do not own it, instead you are licensing it. If a retailer goes bankrupt or shutterers their ebook unit, customers lose access to all of the titles they have bought....
Now, companies could probably educate consumers about this reality. But they don’t. Probably because no one wants to click a button that says “license now” or “rent until rights transfer to a new publisher.” Instead, they bury this information in Terms of Service agreement, which, it is well documented, not very many people read...."