Q: Is it legal to remove DRM from Kindle ebooks for personal use in New York City?

A: The legal situation around removing DRM (Digital Rights Management) from ebooks varies by jurisdiction. In the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) generally prohibits circumventing technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. However, the Library of Congress periodically reviews and implements exemptions to the DMCA for specific cases, such as when DRM prevents individuals from accessing legally purchased content.

A notable legal precedent comes from a New York federal court case where Judge Denise Cote ruled that personal backup and device transfers of ebooks are non-infringing uses. The judge distinguished between removing DRM protection (which itself is not copyright infringement) and subsequently distributing those ebooks to others (which would be infringement). This suggests that using tools like Calibre to remove DRM solely for personal use on different devices might be viewed favorably by courts.

While this provides some legal foundation, you should know that removing DRM remains in a gray area. If you decide to proceed, follow best practices: only remove DRM from books you've legitimately purchased, use them exclusively for personal purposes like reading across different devices or creating backups, and never share or distribute these files. The key consideration is your intent - using your purchased content on your own devices is fundamentally different from distributing content to others.

I hope this helps with your Kobo reading needs.