Kindle to Plain Text

LingQ Developer Forum
1

So has anyone tried to converting a Kindle book to plain text and uploading to LingQ? I did a brief google search and did not find any real solution

Secondly, is it even legal. If not, best to discuss it any further here.

I had this idea while talking with someone today… to write a small program to convert a Kindle book into private LingQ lessons – one lesson per chapter or something. That would be an amazing way to get “new and interesting content” (as steve would say) into LingQ… but I think with the DRM nonsense this isn’t possible =(

2

I don’t know if it is actually illegal. I have no idea. As far as I know, it is not illegal to import copyrighted material into LingQ, so long as it is kept private.

If you want books in German that you can import into LingQ, go here

The ebooks do not have the same protection. A lot of them can even be downloaded as pdfs. You can use Calibre to get the books into LingQ when they are in ePUB format.

3

I use Calibre with some plugins to be able to import my e-books to LingQ (as private lessons, of course).

4

Your ebooks from Amazon? I tried this, but it did not work. I probably did something wrong.

5

You need to install additional plugins: DRM Removal Tools for eBooks | Apprentice Alf’s Blog.

6

So if I import a book, is it ok/possible to share it with somebody else on the website without making it public?

7

Yes, that’s what we were told, as long as you share it privately, when you click on the Share/Give a rose (i.e. you must select the “Private” option and choose one or more friends to share it with). A while ago, this function was not working properly, but I hope it has been fixed.

8

Awesome. Looks like Calibre will work nicely. Thanks

9

In my experience, Calibre chokes on PDF files that are made from images rather than from texts. Maybe I am doing something wrong with that kind of file. Otherwise I agree that Calibre works like a charm for conversions (as well as several other things).

Thanks to u50623 (are u a submarine?) and mikebond for the links.

10

U50623 is a unicode character

11

It would all fit within the context of making a private copy of something for one’s own use. For example, software and music may be backed up for yourself. Or if you want to change media, that’s acceptable as well. You can take that old cassette and make an mp3 out of it, as long as you’re not giving it away. Making a digital copy for use in this new medium (automatic dictionary and word tracker device) is entirely consistent with that.

12

@spatterson “U50623 is a unicode character”

Thanks.

13

is it even legal

It depends. In some jurisdictions you may remove DRM if no actual copyright infringement is involved, in some others removing DRM is illegal whatsoever.

14

You guys are right. It works really well. I tried it before and couldn’t get it working, but obviously I was just making a silly mistake.

15

Thanks for links everybody!