The question of free library lending of e-books in the UK is proving to be quite a contentious issue. TheBookseller.com reports on a letter sent to Culture Minister Margaret Hodge by the Booksellers Association of England and Ireland, as well as similar letters written by the Society of Authors, the Writers’ Guild, and the Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society.
The Booksellers Association is concerned that free library lending of e-books could adversely affect bookshop business: "If borrowers no longer need to come into a library, they certainly don’t need to come into a bookshop to buy a copy.”
[Tim Godfray, chief executive of the BA,] added that there was also "the worry that e-books loaned by libraries will lead to more illegal file sharing and copying". He wrote: "Libraries, we believe, do not have the controls or the infrastructure in place to protect loans of digital book files, or enforce temporary access to books in digital formats which are downloaded for a short time but not retained."
I will grant that. From my own experience with digital lending libraries, the DRM they use is the exact same DRM as e-book vendors, and just as vulnerable to removal via tools readily available on the Internet. But what does that say about the security of e-books that are actually being sold?
The author-advocacy groups also have concerns about remote-access lending. Their letter stated:
Our concern is that remote-access loans of an e-book cannot necessarily be directly equated to the borrowing of a printed book from the shelves of a library. For example, it seems probable that the majority of e-book loans will be sought remotely rather than from a library’s physical premises. There would seem to be nothing to prevent a single library point issuing remote-access loans nationwide. We question how this would benefit either libraries or authors.
The groups are asking for consultation and discussion with all interested parties before any changes are made due to the Modernisation Review of Public Libraries that suggested prohibiting libraries from charging for e-book lending.
That review has certainly caused no little commotion since it came out. A number of writers (not all by a long shot, but you hear about some from time to time) are already highly skeptical of the benefit of libraries for physical books. Adding the lending of e-books into the mix only adds more fuel to the fire.
So book sellers are OK with libraries lending physical books from a physical location because that’s inconvenient for people? Welcome to the new world – to lend from a library you need a library card and know the URL of the library, and probably fill out a bunch of forms to find and check out the book. Also, from what I hear, there will generally be a waiting list for popular books.
I think most avid readers comfortable with eBooks will just torrent the book.
If the difference is a few less clicks and a few less days waiting for a free “loan” of the book, I think the moral grey line becomes rather thin for many people.
The library will still be the inconvenient option.
We question how this would benefit either libraries or authors.
Hmm, and here I thought libraries were created to benefit *readers*, and the benefits to libraries themselves were only relevant inasmuch as they allowed them to continue, and benefits to authors were incidental.
Ok, this is just patently ridiculous. Here in 2010 you don’t have to go to a book shop either. Ever hear of Amazon? Granted, you don’t get the book right away… but buy a few dozen at a time and order more before you run out.
BOb