
Libraries are fighting to preserve your right to borrow e-books - HugThem
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/02/opinions/libraries-fight-publishers-over-e-books-west/index.html
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SpikeDad
Sadly most of the public has no idea what scams that publishers are pulling on
libraries for the "right" to offer e-books. They think a) they're really cheap
- after all it's just a digital book and Kindle books are cheaper than
physical books b) even if it's expensive you can lend them out as much as you
want c) they're cheaper to maintain in the library.

Of course none of these are true. Publishers charge exorbitant prices for an
e-book compared to the physical book (sometimes 10x the cost). There have been
attempts to restrict how many times a library can offer a book for loan (after
all a physical book eventually wears out but an e book doesn't). Libraries are
restricted to simultaneous use of a digital book to the number of copies (each
one at full exorbitant price). It costs a library just as much to maintain and
catalog a digital book as it does a physical book.

It seems sadly that only libraries are in this fight - I don't hear very much
from the public except when books they want aren't available because we can't
afford to buy multiple copies of electronic versions.

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jdsully
> It costs a library just as much to maintain and catalog a digital book as it
> does a physical book.

Do you have any evidence for this? Specifically e-books do not require
expensive floor space and employee time restocking shelves. While the
management costs are not free I would expect them to be substantially cheaper
than physical books.

~~~
SpikeDad
The time/cost savings from not having a physical book is well offset by the
amount of time needed to a) support patrons use of ebooks via apps and
backends which deliver the books and b) administrative time purchasing and
dealing with the publishers.

Income is lost because ebooks are never overdue and so fine income is
significantly reduced over physical books.

Floor space is not reduced (we have plenty of books that need to be shelved)
and reshelving costs are the lowest of any costs in the organization due to
the fact that a lot of reshelving is done by volunteers.

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lacker
The promise of the library is that books are available for free to anyone in
society. It’s a little strange that we have the underlying technology to make
libraries far, far more amazing than they were in 1950, and it just isn’t
permitted. Imagine the ability to borrow any book in the world, on your
iPhone, immediately, for free. But due to the way copyright laws work, the
rules are just totally different for digital libraries. Perhaps the world
would be better off if a free digital library of books were permitted, rather
than forbidden.

~~~
yesenadam
_Imagine the ability to borrow any book in the world, on your iPhone,
immediately, for free._

Well, thanks to Library Genesis (and SciHub) and archive.org, I can download
95% of the books and papers I want immediately for free. Same with music. It's
just incredible--when I was a kid I couldn't have imagined that this would
ever happen.

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8bitsrule
Publishers need to realize that unless they wise up, they're going to lose the
battle sooner rather than later.

Authors need to get paid. But today, authors can promote their books
themselves (podcast interviews, youtube interviews, direct-to-site for
established authors, readings in libraries). And they can sell directly to
fans.

You'd think publishers would look at sci-hub and tone it _down_ not _up_. If
they keep strong-arming libraries, that too will hasten their demise. Readers
don't CARE who publishes a book, and they love libraries ... which have been
and will be around for millenia after Macmillan turns to dust.

