Quartz 4

ebook-access-model

4 min read

Ebook & Digital Library Access Model

Problem

Guild members want access to DRM-free ebooks and RPG PDFs via Kavita (read.dungeon.club). Dungeon Books is a bookstore — giving away books has business implications. Need to figure out what makes sense before wiring up Authentik → Kavita.

Context

  • Currently Panat sends PDFs manually from personal Nextcloud
  • Kavita is live at read.dungeon.club, publicly accessible (no auth yet)
  • Authentik SSO (Phase 2 of discord-integration plan) will gate access by tier
  • Kavita supports OIDC with group-based library access
  • Discussing with Carrie as of 2026-04-08

The licensing reality

Most DRM-free ebooks include language like this (from a Macmillan title):

“This e-book is for your personal use only. You may not print or post this e-book, or make this e-book publicly available in any way.”

This kills the guild library browsing model for most publisher content. Hosting purchased ebooks on Kavita for members to read — even behind auth, even read-only — is making them “publicly available.” DRM-free means they trust you not to need DRM, not that you have redistribution rights.

What’s legally clear

  • Purchase fulfillment — delivering a file the customer already bought. This is what bits-and-mortar does.
  • Publisher-authorized lending — some RPG publishers explicitly allow FLGS lending. Must be in writing, per publisher.
  • Public domain / CC-licensed content — no restrictions.
  • Your own content — anything Dungeon Books produces or commissions.

What’s not okay without explicit publisher permission

  • Hosting purchased ebooks for other members to browse
  • “Buy one DCC book, see all DCC PDFs” — redistribution, even read-only
  • Any model where someone reads a book they didn’t buy, unless the publisher authorized it

The RPG angle

RPG publishers tend to be more FLGS-friendly than trade publishers. Some may authorize a lending program. But this needs explicit conversations with each publisher, not assumptions. Carrie should lead these conversations.

Two separate problems

These are different things and shouldn’t be conflated:

1. Purchase fulfillment — “you bought this, here’s your PDF”

  • Carrie’s take: this makes sense for RPGs specifically (core rulebooks, sourcebooks)
  • Should work for any customer, not just guild members — no signup required
  • Industry standard is bits-and-mortar.com but it’s garbage with no API
  • Simplest approach: email a download link after Square purchase
  • Doesn’t need Kavita or Authentik at all

2. Guild library — “browse the collection as a member”

  • This is the membership perk, tier-gated via Authentik → Kavita
  • This is also where it gets complicated (see below)

Guild library — only with publisher authorization

A guild browsing library is only viable with content you have redistribution rights for:

  • Publisher-authorized titles — get it in writing from each publisher
  • Public domain / CC-licensed — free to share
  • Dungeon Books originals — your own content, your rules

Do not build a “browse the collection” feature and populate it with purchased ebooks. Even read-only behind auth is redistribution.

This is a Carrie + publisher conversation. The tech (Kavita + Authentik) supports any model once the rights are clear.

Kavita capabilities (relevant to both)

Kavita supports OIDC with per-user library access via claims:

  • Libraries are organized by collection (e.g. DCC, 5e, PF2e)
  • OIDC role library-<Name> grants access to a library
  • Download role controls whether user can download files
  • Permissions sync on every login
  • Auto-provisions users on first OIDC login (matched by email)

Limitation: access is per-library, not per-book. If someone has library-DCC they see every PDF in the DCC library. Can’t gate individual titles within a library. One library per book doesn’t scale (200 products = 200 libraries).

Possible models

Purchase fulfillment (do this first)

  • Square purchase → email download link with the included PDF
  • No account needed, works for visitors
  • RPG-focused per Carrie’s recommendation
  • Requires: product → PDF mapping (manual curation, once per product)

Guild library — free reference shelf, not a perk

  • Not tier-gated. It’s a utility: “you’re playing Mork Borg tonight? Here’s the basic rules.”
  • Only hosts freely redistributable content:
    • Free basic rules publishers release (most RPG publishers do this)
    • SRDs (5e SRD, PF2e SRD, etc.)
    • Quickstart guides (publisher marketing material)
    • Public domain / CC-licensed content
    • Dungeon Books originals
  • Organized by system in Kavita (DCC, 5e, Mork Borg, etc.)
  • Like having rulebooks on the shelf at the game table, but digital
  • No licensing concerns — publishers want this stuff shared

Dependencies

  • Authentik SSO setup (Phase 2 of discord-integration plan) — needed regardless
  • Business decision on guild library model (Panat + Carrie + publisher conversations)
  • Product → PDF mapping for purchase fulfillment

Next Steps

  • Ship Authentik SSO — same infra regardless of access model
  • Purchase fulfillment: design email flow for RPG PDF delivery (no Kavita needed)
  • Panat + Carrie: talk to publisher reps about digital lending comfort level
  • Then: decide guild library scope and Kavita library structure

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