6 ms·

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.

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.