3 ms·

By exactly this same line of reasoning, don't libraries present a loss of revenue for publishers because people can borrow a book that they otherwise would have

By exactly this same line of reasoning, don't libraries present a loss of revenue for publishers because people can borrow a book that they otherwise would have to pay for and purchase? One book may be borrowed hundreds, if not thousands of times.

cygx 6y ago
Hence the existence of Public Lending Right programs[1] in some countries. In Germany for example, libaries do need to pay a fee per loan (3-4 cent according to Wikipedia). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Lending_Right https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Lending_Right
- macawfish 6y ago
  That's a lot different than 250k per loan!
watwut 6y ago
Yes they do. I am going to library regularly with one of goals being saving money on childrens books.
sct202 6y ago
In the US, library ebooks have a lot of restrictions like the digital ebooks cost more for the library than physical copies and expire after a certain number of downloads.
matwood 6y ago
> One book may be borrowed hundreds, if not thousands of times. Except requiring the physical book (or single book digital equivalent) controls the pace. If a standard checkout is 2 weeks, and if the book is always checked out, it will still take 4 years to hit 100 lends. And a thousand lends? Close to 40 years.
- sukilot 6y ago
  That's a difference in scale, but it doesn't make libraries right at the spot they sit. Do libraries pay 100x price for their books? Be careful to avoid reasoning from an axiom that the way things worked when you grew up was the correct way. It's a pernicious psychological bias we all suffer from.
bart_spoon 6y ago
Libraries still buy their books. And the fact that there are limited, physical copies means that access to the book is still controlled in a way that free online copies are not. There is no permanent ownership. A single person can use each copy at a time. That's a vastly different circumstance than the book simply being freely available to everyone everywhere, permanently.
dhosek 6y ago
>One book may be borrowed hundreds, if not thousands of times. You over-estimate the lifespan of physical books and the physical stress of lending. 25–40 times is a more likely lifespan for a physical book. With digital lending, there are actually specific contractual limits on the number of lends and the cost per lend which vary based on the publisher. And the average number of lends per library book is probably close to 1.

cygx 6y ago

Hence the existence of Public Lending Right programs[1] in some countries. In Germany for example, libaries do need to pay a fee per loan (3-4 cent according to Wikipedia). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Lending_Right https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Lending_Right

macawfish 6y ago
That's a lot different than 250k per loan!

watwut 6y ago

Yes they do. I am going to library regularly with one of goals being saving money on childrens books.

sct202 6y ago

In the US, library ebooks have a lot of restrictions like the digital ebooks cost more for the library than physical copies and expire after a certain number of downloads.

matwood 6y ago

> One book may be borrowed hundreds, if not thousands of times. Except requiring the physical book (or single book digital equivalent) controls the pace. If a standard checkout is 2 weeks, and if the book is always checked out, it will still take 4 years to hit 100 lends. And a thousand lends? Close to 40 years.

sukilot 6y ago
That's a difference in scale, but it doesn't make libraries right at the spot they sit. Do libraries pay 100x price for their books? Be careful to avoid reasoning from an axiom that the way things worked when you grew up was the correct way. It's a pernicious psychological bias we all suffer from.

bart_spoon 6y ago

Libraries still buy their books. And the fact that there are limited, physical copies means that access to the book is still controlled in a way that free online copies are not. There is no permanent ownership. A single person can use each copy at a time. That's a vastly different circumstance than the book simply being freely available to everyone everywhere, permanently.

dhosek 6y ago

>One book may be borrowed hundreds, if not thousands of times. You over-estimate the lifespan of physical books and the physical stress of lending. 25–40 times is a more likely lifespan for a physical book. With digital lending, there are actually specific contractual limits on the number of lends and the cost per lend which vary based on the publisher. And the average number of lends per library book is probably close to 1.