I don't believe the majority of people make use of their public libraries. Working people tend to not have the excess time to visit libraries, I know for decades I didn't have a library card, and I read a LOT. Not until I found an old out-of-print book I wanted to read badly and my library had a copy did I actually get a library card again. I was always reading some paperback though that I purchased.
Has that changed very much with ereaders? I don't think so... I believe the majority will still be purchasing their ebooks same as they did their paperbacks, as long as the pricing remains reasonably in line with a paperback. If they're going to start asking me to pay $20 for an ebook when I can buy the paperback for $9, something is very wrong with the system. I'll buy the real book in that case and not even have to deal with the "do I own the book or did I just license it for a one-time read for my current reader only" BS.
At my library, there's a limit on the ebooks they have to offer, usually only 1 or 2 copies per book (usually just 1 though), just like having the real books on the shelves. So sticking to that model makes it very unlikely, actually impossible, that libraries will ever take away funding from authors, editors or publishers. You still have to wait often months to download the library copy of the ebook after being on a waiting list. It's not unusual to have 4 people ahead of you on the list and these are older books I'm checking out from probably the 1950s or earlier. A current best-selling novel would probably have 100 people ahead of you on the list. And that works the same as if you were waiting for the hard copy of the book to become available. And most everyone who is employed will choose to purchase a copy rather than wait months and months for a book. If libraries were purchasing one ebook copy, and then able to lend that one book to 1000 people simultaneously, then yes, I'd say there would be fear of taking away funding from the industry, but that's not how it works. They can only lend out the one copy to one person at a time. Two to three weeks later, another person can then borrow the book. There is no way around that to abuse the system to take any money away from authors or publishing houses.
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Originally Posted by CyGuy
For me this is not, and never has been, the issue. The actual issue is this: The mistaken belief that purchasing an ebook is purchasing some kind of license. Purchasing an ebook is purchasing an actual product. Once this is finally realized, most of these other issues will vanish....
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Absolutely totally agree with this. Libraries should own their copies of the ebooks, the same as they own the hard copies of books. This applies to every day people purchasing books also. Enough with the "you only have a license" tactic, it's just not going to fly with majority of people, which is why most of us strip DRM from our ebooks.