The article How to Remove the DRM on Any Ebook You Own describes how to remove DRM from ebooks and states that it is legal to do so for your personal use. It is illegal to share copies of those ebooks. More importantly, I believe it is morally wrong.

The article mentions calibre (the developer spells it with lower case), a great ebook management program, in the process. It is important to say that calibre is not the program that removes DRM. The developer of calibre does not provide the plugin used. That comes from an unrelated developer.

The plugin works on a variety of publishing systems. The ebook needs to be downloaded rather than being sent directly to the ereader. Finding the download area on Amazon is a bit difficult, so bookmarking that URL is a good idea. Here is currently how it may be found:

  • Login to your Amazon account
  • Find “Account and Lists” near the top right of the main page
  • Click on “Content Library” on the right-hand column.

Kindle Download Button

  • Click on the “Books” icon which opens to a page listing your books in a row. Bookmark this page.
  • Find your book and click on “More Actions.” Choose “Download and transfer via USB.” You can then put the downloaded book into calibre or directly into your ereader via USB. If the plugin is installed and configured, the DRM will be removed when the ebook is loaded into calibre. Test by trying to read the ebook in calibre. If it does not open the DRM is still in place.

Kindle Download Button