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Originally Posted by Giggleton
You must understand that the library pays a fee for those books you borrow but it is quite possible that they have been borrowed a hundred times before they get to you. Has the author been compensated enough for these multiple borrows?
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Authors get paid more money from the affluent who buy their books outright, and less money from those whose funding comes indirectly, such as through sales to libraries. Is it fair for the relatively richer to pay more? I say yes. Has this system compensated authors enough? Probably not, but signaling that piracy is fine, and then relying on alms, or implausible dreams of a new government program in a an era of
long-term debt overhang and a
highly challenging demographic environment is going to make it worse. Maybe the posters who instead focus on eliminating DRM and lowering eBook prices are even more unrealistic, but I think your plans just won't work.
Will anything work? Not completely, but I think mild discouragement of piracy is the best bet.
As before, I thank you for asking me to reconsider fundamentals.
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Seriously though if you want to get down to basics, isn't everything paid for by the tax system?
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No. If you want to get down to basics, we have a mixed economy.