What is an .lcpl file? I just downloaded a book in .lcpl format and want to read it on my Kindle. Is there any solution?
As the new DRM technology Readium LCP DRM is adopted by an increasing number of ebook stores and libraries, you may sometimes download ebooks in the .lcpl format. But what exactly is an LCPL file? How do you open an LCPL file? Can you convert LCPL to PDF or EPUB? And most importantly, can you read LCPL books on Kindle?
In this guide, we will answer all these questions and provide step-by-step instructions. Continue reading to learn how to open LCPL files, convert LCPL to EPUB or PDF, and read them on Kindle devices.
Part 1. What is an LCPL file?
Frequently Asked Questions about LCPL and Readium LCPQ: What is an LCPL file?
A: The LCPL file is a Readium License Document used in the Readium LCP DRM system. Readium is an open-source reference system and rendering engine designed for EPUB publications.
Similar to an .acsm file, an LCPL file does not contain the actual ebook content. Instead, it acts as a license file that allows you to download the real EPUB or PDF book from the provider.
Q: What is Readium LCP DRM?
A: LCP, short for "Licensed Content Protection", is a Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology developed by the publishing industry. It is a vendor-neutral, interoperable, and distributed DRM solution created by Readium members and managed by EDRLab.
Readium LCP DRM is a modern rights management solution based on passphrases. It supports multiple business models such as library lending and ebook sales.
Ebooks delivered as .lcpl files can only be opened using LCP-compatible apps or devices. The actual EPUB or PDF files downloaded through the license are encrypted with Readium LCP DRM.
Part 2. Devices and Apps That Support Readium LCP
Ebooks and audiobooks delivered as .lcpl files are protected by Readium LCP DRM and must be accessed using LCP-compatible reading applications.
| Readium LCP | LCP PC/Mac App | LCP Compliant eInk readers / apps | LCP Adopters |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBook Distributors / Adopters |
|
|
|
However, it is important to note that Kindle devices do not support EPUB files protected by Readium LCP DRM. Therefore, LCP-protected ebooks cannot be read directly on Kindle devices.
If you convert your Readium LCP books to DRM-free EPUB or AZW3, you can easily send them to your Kindle using the Send to Kindle service or transfer AZW3 files to your Kindle via USB.
In the following sections, we will show you how to convert LCPL to PDF or EPUB and remove DRM. Once you obtain DRM-free files, transferring them to Kindle becomes easy.
Part 3. How to Convert LCPL to PDF or EPUB Format
As mentioned earlier, an .lcpl file does not contain the actual ebook content. Therefore, you cannot directly convert an LCPL file to PDF or EPUB.
When you purchase ebooks from a store that uses Readium LCP DRM, you will usually receive downloads in one of the following formats: .lcpl, EPUB, or PDF. If possible, it is recommended to download the EPUB or PDF version directly.
However, if you only receive an .lcpl file, you must first open it with an LCP-compatible reading application in order to download the actual ebook content.
Step 1 Install an LCP-compatible application such as Thorium Reader on your computer.
Download and install Thorium Reader.
Step 2 Drag the .lcpl file into Thorium Reader. The ebook will be downloaded automatically.
Step 3 When opening the LCPL file, a window will prompt you to enter the passphrase. Enter the passphrase and click "Submit".
After entering the correct passphrase, the ebook will open and you can read it in Thorium Reader.
Pro Tip: What is a passphrase?
To open (or decrypt) an LCP ebook, you need the passphrase provided by the ebook vendor. This is the same passphrase you would enter in an LCP-compatible reading application or device to access your purchased books. In many cases, the passphrase may simply be the password associated with your ebook account.
Step 4 To obtain the actual EPUB or PDF file, click the three dots next to the book title and select "Save as".
The ebook will now be exported to your computer as a LCPDF or EPUB file.
Part 4. How to Remove Readium DRM and Convert LCPL to Kindle
Since LCPL ebooks are protected by Readium LCP DRM, you must remove the DRM and convert the ebook into a Kindle-supported format before reading it on Kindle devices.
Remove Readium DRM Version 1.0
The DeDRM plugin for Calibre is currently the only tool capable of removing the older version of Readium LCP DRM.
Note: Please download the DeDRM plugin from the link provided in this guide. The latest version of the DeDRM plugin available on GitHub has removed support for LCP DRM.
Step 1 Download the required tools: Calibre, DeDRM Plugin, and LCPL Input Plugin.
Calibre 6.10 >> If the latest version does not work with the plugin, try installing an earlier version.
DeDRM Plugin: Special Version >> This tested version is specifically designed for removing LCP DRM. It is restored from the GitHub project DeDRM_tools-LCP.
After downloading, unzip the package. You will see several files including:
DeDRM_plugin, DeDRM_plugin_ReadMe, Obok_plugin, ReadMe, and ReadMe_Overview.
LCPL.Input.v0.0.5.zip >> This plugin allows Calibre to download and import LCPL ebooks directly.
Step 2 Install Calibre and add the DeDRM plugin.
Calibre does not remove DRM by default. Installing the DeDRM plugin allows Calibre to remove DRM protections so that ebooks can be read on different devices.
Open Preferences >>Plugins>>Load plugin from file, then select the DeDRM plugin zip file and install it. Restart Calibre after installation.
- You can install the LCPL Input plugin using the same steps.
Step 3 Configure the DeDRM plugin to remove Readium LCP DRM.
Go to Preferences ? Plugins, search for DeDRM, and click "Customize plugin".
Select "Readium LCP ebooks" and click OK.
Then click the green "+" button to add your LCP passphrase.
Step 4 Remove DRM and convert the ebook to Kindle format.
Add your downloaded EPUB or PDF file to Calibre. If the LCPL Input plugin is installed, you can also drag the LCPL file directly into Calibre.
Right-click the book title ? select Convert Books ? choose AZW3 as the output format.
Once the conversion finishes, you will find the DRM-free EPUB and AZW3 files in Calibre.
Step 5 Transfer the converted ebook to Kindle.
Solution 1: Connect your Kindle to the computer using a USB cable and copy the AZW3 file to the Documents folder.
Solution 2: Use the Send to Kindle service to send the DRM-free EPUB file to your Kindle.
All done! Enjoy your reading.
Readium Version 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0? Try Epubor LCPL Conversion Service
More and more ebook vendors are replacing ACSM DRM with Readium LCP DRM. However, the Calibre DeDRM plugin only works for older Readium LCP 1.0 encryption.
If the ebook provider uses newer versions such as Readium 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0, the DRM cannot be removed using the DeDRM plugin.
Q: Can the Calibre DeDRM plugin remove Readium 2.5 DRM?
A: No. The Calibre DeDRM plugin only supports Readium LCP 1.0. Newer versions such as Readium 2.5 use stronger encryption and cannot currently be removed using this plugin.
Try Epubor LCPL Conversion Service
If you cannot convert your LCP ebooks (including Readium 2.0 or later versions), please contact us via epubor.service@gmail.com with the subject line "Convert LCP".
Please include the following information:
- The ebook vendor where you purchased the book
- The downloaded/exported EPUB or LPDF file (not the LCPL file)
- The LCP passphrase
- Your Order No.
The Epubor support team will assist you in converting your LCPL ebooks.
Order Convesion Service Silver Plan (8 Books)
Order Convesion Service Gold Plan (16 Books)
Order Convesion Service Platinum Plan (30 Books)
Can I convert archive.org to pdf, epub?
Sure, you can convert Archive lcpdf to pdf files easily by following this guide How to Download Internet Archive Books to ePub PDF.
Can I convert Readium LCPA for Audiobooks to mp3?
Yes, Epubor LCPL Audio conversion service can help you convert Readium lcp audiobook to mp3 format with 100% quality preserved.
Iris Yan is a passionate member of the Epubor team, dedicated to enhancing your ebook reading experience. She shares insightful tips, tricks, and practical advice to help you get the most out of your digital library. Join her on the journey to reading excellence today!
I downloaded 2 books as LCP ePub from openlibrary.org. Downloaded Thorium, dropped in book, entered my openlibrary passphrase, and book opened, readable in Thorium. However, on selecting EXPORT, only a 0 byte icon appears with Book-title- name. No epub files appear.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Hello, thanks for your comment.
In this case, I suggest you redownload again your book and try again to export it with Thorium.
Any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us via support@epubor.com.
Best regards,
Epubor Team
I have the the same issue. I installed the latest version of Thorium for Windows and it allows me to open the book file, but using the export control only produces a zero-length file. I tried installing earlier versions of Thorium (there are several available from Github) and the result is the same every time - zero length.
I have Calibre installed and it allows me to convert AZW3 files to EPUB format. But downloading the special version of DeDRM plugin provides no added conversion functionality. When I try to convert to AZW3, I get the following Calibre error: "No supported formats (Available formats: lcpl)".
Am I missing something, or is there another solution?
thanks,
Dan
Hello, thanks for your comment.
The password is given by the eBook provider. If you forgot the password, I suggest you contact your eBook providers.
Any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us via support@epubor.com.
Best regards,
Epubor Team
I am having the same problem as Robert H with the exported files from Thorium (windows 10) being zero bytes without a file extension. I believe the reason for this is that the file name for the book has a reserved character in it ":" that doesn't work with windows. Because I can't rename the file when exporting, and don't have a Mac, trying to export from Thorium doesn't work.
To get around this I downloaded the Aldiko app on android and exported from there. I successfully exported the file, but now have an issue that I can't import into Calibre, because the file extension of the exported book is '.lcpdf', not '.pdf'. Calibre doesn't recognize .lcpdf, and manually changing the extension doesn't work. What can I do from here? How can someone export from Aldiko to .pdf and not .lcpdf?
Hello, thanks for your message
May I ask what version of Calibre you installed? If the latest Calibre Plugin doesn't work, please download the previous version and try again.
Any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us via support@epubor.com.
Best regards,
Epubor Team
Calibre didn't make the convertion, and the file is just displayed in the bookshelf as it is.
(if I try to convert an epub with the same DRM encryption type it works though)
I use the public library MLOL, and the book can be read only as a pdf file once the file is converted using MLOL app or Thorium, not as epub or other formats.
Hello, thanks for your comment
Please confirm that you downloaded the Dedrm plugin from the link in this article. The latest Dedrm plugin published in Github has removed the LCP support.
If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us via support@epubor.com
Best regards,
Epubor Team
Hello,
I've launched Calibre 7.10 in debug mode to get logs about why it doesn't decrypt my book :
DeDRM v10.0.3: Trying to decrypt [MYBOOK].epub
DeDRM v10.0.3: Verifying zip archive integrity
[...]
LCP: Found correct passphrase, decrypting book ...
Looks like that didn't work:
Running file type plugin DeDRM failed with traceback:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre\customize\ui.py", line 187, in _run_filetype_plugins
File "calibre_plugins.dedrm.__init__", line 1067, in run
File "calibre_plugins.dedrm.__init__", line 345, in ePubDecrypt
File "C:\Users\[USER]\Calibre Portable\Calibre Settings\plugins\DeDRM.zip\lcpdedrm.py", line 514, in decryptLCPbook
File "C:\Users\[USER]\Calibre Portable\Calibre Settings\plugins\DeDRM.zip\lcpdedrm.py", line 123, in decrypt
File "Crypto\Cipher\_mode_cbc.py", line 246, in decrypt
ValueError: Data must be padded to 16 byte boundary in CBC mode
Can you help me, please ?
Hello, thanks for your comment
Please confirm that you downloaded the Dedrm plugin from the link in this article. The latest Dedrm plugin published in Github has removed the LCP support.
If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us via support@epubor.com
Best regards,
Epubor Team
Yes, I downloaded the « DeDRM Plugin: Special version » from this article.
I've tried again on Ubuntu with Calibre 7.2.0 and 6.10.0 but I'm still getting the same error…
Maybe because I use a 4-letter password (it's a book I borrowed from my library, so I was able to choose the password) ?
Regards,
mickbot92
Now, I choose a stronger password and the .lcpl file dedicated to Thorium (instead of Brio Reader), and it works. Thank you !
mickbot / mickbot92
What about .LCPDF?
Kind of useless if it works only for ebooks. Waste of money
Hi!
I've a problem^ when i try to export file from Thorium Reader it exports a file without an extension, not a PDF or ePub or anything.
Also, when i tried the method with Calibre, when i pressed "Convert" it answered that "Could not convert the book because no supported source format was found" even though i had exactly .lcpl file. I've already checked if the correct version of DeDRM is installed etc. I checked everything and everything is like in your article. But not a result. Help me, please.
Thank you so much ! It worked for me !
For other users, I used the last version of Calibre, DeDRM plugin and LCPL plugin. I only updated the file lcpdedrm.py from the DeDRM zip file provided on this website in the DeDRM zip file of the latest plugin (before installing it into Calibre of course). As it's Python, I checked briefly the code to ensure it was not obviously a malware. (for me, it isn't)
Hello Vivien. Glad to see you did it!
I don't know what you mean or how you updated de lcpddedrm.py file. How could I do it? Could you explain it to me? I found that file in the .zip file but I don't know how to open it nor update it.
Thanks a lot.
Thanks for the guide.
I bought a book from Bradt Guides being forced to use the Glassboxx Apps only, which employ Readium LCP. I was not provided with a passphrase but have to login to the app with the email I used to buy the book. A passphrase input screen shortly pops up and closes again, without user input needed.
The book can then be downloaded and displayed in the app. I do find the downloaded EPUB and LCPL file but is there a way to perform the Calibre decryption without the passphrase?
I guess the passphrase is somehow automatically provided and the question boils down to how the passphrase can be extracted from the app / downloaded data?
Currently using the Windows Store version of the Glassboxx App.
Exactly WHAT should I do except providing the passphrase words that unlocked the book in Thorium?
It looks like a ePub file now. It was possible to import to Adobe Digital Edition. It was possible to open and showed the TOC. Plus 186 EMPTY pages.
So please explain more thoroughly how this was supposed to work.
Greetings,
just wanted to write to confirm, that the method explained in this article still works, but only for .epub files; trying to remove DRM protection from a .pdf file (or .lcpdf file, as they are called when exported from Thorium reader) isn't possible (as was also already mentioned by e.g. user Mixie) and there doesn't appear to be a tool to deal with these files yet (that I know of).
Hey,
when trying to import lcpl from an online library it triggers this line in lcpdedrm.py:
file.close()
raise LCPError("Book is using an unknown LCP encryption standard: ".format(license["encryption"]["profile"]))
profile listed in the .lcpl file profile-2.5
Any ideas how to resolve this?
Hi,
is there a way that works with Readium 2.5? I get msg ''this book is locked by DRM''.
Thank you.
Kren
thank you :)
The books are from plus.cobiss. net
Please make the plugin work for Dedrm-ing Readium 2.5.
I'm willing to donate.
Bought a book from biblos.si, "Zakaj ima moj hudic krila" by Terezija Vuk, *.lcpl format. Can't remove the DRM to put it on my Kobo >> "Can't convert the book, locked by DRM".
Am willing to donate also if you manage to crack this one.
epub books were got from a public library using MLOL application
Would love to use my e-ink device to read books again :|
Please, help us!
I can confirm that Epubor has the solution, but sadly it's not available for public. You can send your book and passphrase to support@epubor.com for a test conversion,but you have to buy packages to convert any further books.
However, Readium 2.5 is cracked, so hopefully we soon get a script to use freely.
Not according to their recent answer
"Thank you for asking,. Yes, we've figured out this issue, but the lcpl compan forbid us from selling or publishing the software.
Don't lose your money with this software, it will remove nothing.
DRM, LCPL, etc. No software now (2024) are able to crack them.
So rich win and can sell one book with real value of $1.00, to sell $100.00.
What rich call "democracy".
Trump win, a billionaire and so a criminal.
What a surprise...
It is not working anymore ( can't convert the LCP file)
The drm of LCP file borrowed from the internet archive can't be removed
The option ( get pdf \ epub) which opened by digital adobe reader now is not accessible
It works for Archive Org files but only for Epub lcpl files and not for the PDF lcpl files. Need to use Calibre 7.12.0.
We are sincerely sorry to inform you that Epubor software doesn't support lcpl drm.
Can you please tell us where did you purchase the lcpl files? How did you download it?
You can contact us via epubor.iris@gmail.com to get further assistance on this issue.
Have you downloaded your lcpl to epub?
Where did you purchase your lcpl files?
Please send us these information so that we can help you figure it out.
I haven’t been able to convert it to an ePub which is why I’m here. I’ve tried all the steps above, downloaded everything as per your initial reply and it doesn’t work.
The LCPL is from Netgalley.