5 ms·

I don't have an answer to your question, but how do you feel about traditional libraries sharing your work for free?

• cavalierfrix 4y ago
  In your library example, the author is still paid by the library system for their work.
  • josephcsible 4y ago
    In both this and a traditional library, one person buys the book and then a bunch of people read it for free. What are you saying is the difference between those scenarios?
    • suriyaG 4y ago
      It is not possible for a single physical book to be read by hundreds of thousands of people, concurrently. an ebook enables this. I think a more apt example is, if the library started printing the books and giving it out themselves.
      • ryoshu 4y ago
        Most libraries have ebooks these days.
        • ok_dad 4y ago
          They’re limited to a certain number of loans before the library has to buy another license, or a per-checkout fee. Physical books have about a 50 to 100 checkout lifetime and ebook licensing is similar.
          • MichaelCollins 4y ago
            Not the library I go to for ebooks.
          • matwood 4y ago
            There are quite a few different purchasing and lending models libraries use today. Outside of the big 4/5 publishers, many publishers will sell ebooks to libraries using a sim use model (pay 1 subscription fee and checkout as many times as possible over the period), and some will even let the library buy in that model perpetually.
  • aftbit 4y ago
    Not once per person who reads the book though, only once per library, or more accurately, once per concurrent check out.
    • 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
      How many libraries are there? Libraries might be the biggest customer demographic of some books.
    • 6figurelenins 4y ago
      On an annually recurring license. So the taxpayer doesn't just buy hundreds of books no one asked for and will never read, he buys them ten times over.
      • MichaelCollins 4y ago
        In what country do libraries work like that? Not in America. In America, libraries do not pay annual licensing fees for books. A book is purchased or otherwise acquired, and then lent out as many times as the library pleases. When the book wears out, the library may rebind it and continue lending it. This is covered by first sale doctrine. After the library owns that book it is theirs and neither the author nor the publisher is entitled to anything when the book is lent.
        • Turing_Machine 4y ago
          > In what country do libraries work like that? I believe most former Commonwealth countries work like that. Here's the info for Canada: https://publiclendingright.ca/ https://publiclendingright.ca/ It's not a huge amount... minimum $50/book/year, maximum $4,500/book per year, but I suppose it's significant if you have, say, 20 books, each bringing in the maximum. It's a flat rate, though, not a per use charge.
          • MichaelCollins 4y ago
            Damn, I'm glad the American library system isn't held to such asinine rules. I can buy a second hand book from a shop that pays nothing to publishers, donate it to a library for free, and the library is now allowed to lend that book as many times as they please, never having paid anybody a single cent for that right.
• cinntaile 4y ago
  They pay some sort of royalty no?
• RomanPushkin 4y ago
  I'm fine if you want to share my book with your friend or with a group of friends. However, library !== the entire world. Moreover, libraries buy book(s) so they can share more copies if there is a demand. Without authors getting paid for their work there won't be any books at all, except books from those authors who are willing to write them for free of charge. But I assume you don't like online libraries with free books online for some reason.
  • tshaddox 4y ago
    > Without authors getting paid for their work there won't be any books at all, except books from those authors who are willing to write them for free of charge. You mean except for authors who are willing to write them without charging each reader for a copy.
  • mod 4y ago
    In many places in the US, anyone can get a card to a library. So, if everyone had that knowledge, it actually would mean the entire world. In the county I have my card with, they give a card number over the internet without any kind of address validation, so anyone willing to lie about their address can get a card there. I'm sure that's true for countless counties.
• 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
  How do libraries get their books? When was the last time that you checked out a book at your local library?
  • mym1990 4y ago
    NPR did a good and brief piece on digital lending economics which also talks about how those economics are different from physical lending. Libraries license materials, and the license for a physical book will typically last as long as that book can be circulated(basically until it falls apart). I've started going to the library more often(and using Libby for e-reading), they might not have the exact book I want, but there is always something I am interested in there. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1118289764/the-surprising-economics-of-digital-lending https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1118289764/the-surprising-eco...
    • MichaelCollins 4y ago
      > Libraries license materials, and the license for a physical book will typically last as long as that book can be circulated(basically until it falls apart). Libraries buy books, which are then covered by first sale doctrine. When a library book falls apart, the library may rebind it and continue lending it.
  • mod 4y ago
    I have not checked out a physical book in several years, but I use my library card to rent digital media (primarily audiobooks) all the time.