Amazon is changing how copyright protection is applied to self-published eBooks from Kindle Direct

Amazon says it will allow authors to submit their DRM-free eBooks in EPUB and PDF formats through its self-publishing platform, Kindle Direct Publishing. Starting January 20, 2026, authors who mark their titles as DRM-free will see their books available in these more open formats.

The decision to use Digital Rights Management (DRM), a copyright protection mechanism, is made by authors when they publish their eBooks on the Amazon platform.

The company notes that these changes will not affect previously published titles. If authors want to change the status of legacy titles, they will need to log into the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) author portal and change an option in Settings. (Instructions on how to make this change are available on the Amazon KDP support site here.)

This move may actually incentivize authors to apply DRM to their eBooks.

As one author pointed out on the KDP community forums, Leslie Ann Perry, “Previously, I didn’t enable DRM on my eBooks. My thinking was that I wanted people to be able to download them on other devices within their homes. However, I think I will enable it on any future eBooks. I’m not sure I want people to be able to download them as PDF files [sic]”.

Another member responded to the complaints, arguing that it didn’t really increase privacy, as those who wanted it could always dump a DRM-free Kindle file into a program to convert it to an EPUB or PDF.

Amazon is positioning the new feature as making it easier for readers to enjoy content they’ve already purchased, but the reality is that authors will have to subscribe if they want to unlock access to their older works. To remove DRM, authors will need to click the box that says: “I understand that by not applying DRM, customers who have purchased and have already purchased this book will be able to download it as a PDF or EPUB file.”

Elsewhere, Amazon has made it harder for Kindle owners to share or back up their eBooks through heavy use of digital rights management in recent months.

With the Kindle software update for 11th and 12th generation devices, the retailer introduced a new digital rights management (DRM) system that made it impossible for Kindle users to back up their eBooks without jailbreaking their devices. This followed a previous change to remove USB download and transfer options, which angered many Kindle owners.

After an author updates the DRM status of their eBook, Amazon says it will take up to 72 hours before those changes are published on Amazon.com.