New eBook and digital content licensing terms for library lending

[tech_au]

I have no doubt its that @#$# Hachette again I bet. They are the idiots who started this mess a couple of years ago

[FizzyWater]

First time I ever hoped a post really is just troll bait!

But ... I thought that the deal with Overdrive was that, while libraries paid some price for the book, they also paid a small fee every time it was borrowed. I thought that fee covered the potential losses when replacing a paperback (which doesn't have a very long shelf life at the library) with a digital version of the book. Is that fee only for Overdrive's benefit?

[Fbone]

The residency restriction isn't anything new. Librarian around the country have told me this was always in effect. Probably not enforced to the publisher's satisfaction. Singapore's Library is an example.

The publisher may not be Macmillan or Simon & Schuster since the email says the effect is not retroactive. Although, these new terms may attract them to participate in Overdrive lending.

Depends on what the limited borrowing number is to be. If it's 100, not so bad.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I'm sorry, but I don't believe this until I see something remotely official.

Grouch2 has zero posting history; there's no official announcement; Random House just signed on for Canada; and I can't imagine that Overdrive would enact a change that big by just "circulating" an email to selected libraries.

I mean, really. "This will not stand?" Boycotts? Y'all don't even know if it's real yet.

Someone sent this email to a mailing list for the Digital Public Library of America. I suggest everyone join and contribute their thoughts to this new librarys creation, together we can end copyright and give everyone access to everything!!

[rogue_librarian]

Sure looks legit to me.

[Serena]

I say go for it. The more restrictions publishers put on ebooks, the easier it will be to find them free elsewhere. Same thing that happened with music.

I don't support downloading ebooks for free, but I downloaded the free music because when I bought it, I couldn't play it on all my devices.

If you won't let me check it out from the library, and continue with this price fixing that makes 10 year old books cost $8, I'm going to feel a lot less guilt downloading books as well.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I'm sorry, but I don't believe this until I see something remotely official.

Grouch2 has zero posting history; there's no official announcement; Random House just signed on for Canada; and I can't imagine that Overdrive would enact a change that big by just "circulating" an email to selected libraries.

I mean, really. "This will not stand?" Boycotts? Y'all don't even know if it's real yet.

Is any of it surprising though?
Ultimately the publishers are going to want to kill off the libraries completely, and the steps above all look like reasonable changes from their point of view. Why should the Philadelphia library be able to buy one copy of the book and then lend it to anyone in the world forever? (Especially when they are making a profit from doing so by selling out of area memberships)

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Depends on what the limited borrowing number is to be. If it's 100, not so bad.

Depends. My library is part of a consortium... it's not that uncommon to see 100+ holds on a popular ebook. Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy comes to mind... I waited months, even though the library had several copies. Actually still waiting for the last book. I'm not sure that the consortium could afford to always replace a book after 100 borrows. These are mostly somewhat rural libraries.

At any rate, I hope this news isn't real.

[abookreader]

I see pretty big waitlists sometimes at MyMediaMall (Chicago Area Consortium). But they'll usually buy multiple copies when the lists get that big.

I'm like most in that to me this is yet another example of some of the big Publishers trying to solve their business model problems by whacking their readers over the head with huge clubs and then acting all mystified when the Readers react in anger.

Will it work? I don't know. We'll see. They shoved Agency Pricing down everybody's throats for the short-term. One year later I still don't expect that to last. Amazon has gotten even stronger over the past year. They did nothing to level the "retail playing field" which was supposedly one of their main goals.

I still see every single step they take like this as simply another way where Penguin, Hatchette, etc etc are simply opening the door to the comfy Market Share Condo Complex they live in and inviting smaller, hungrier, and more reader friendly Publishers to move on in and start eating the food from the refrigerators.

[toomanybooks]

The borrowing limits really bother me. I use the library ebooks to try out authors I haven't read before to see if I'll like them. I often return the ebook to the library after one chapter when I don't enjoy the writing. If borrowing limits are implemented I would feel guilty doing this because people who really want to read the book would not be able to depending on how many checkouts remain.

[geertm]

Just found this information. Harper Collins seems to be the publisher.

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/hom...ebook.html.csp

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by geertm

Just found this information. Harper Collins seems to be the publisher.

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/hom...ebook.html.csp

This is just : feedback2@harpercollins.com I suggest we contact them.

[abookreader]

Not that I expect it will do any good at all, but at this point I'm composing a letter to my Government Official concerning the need for an eBook buyer's Bill of Rights.

Including the right to own what they pay for, whether they be a Library or an Individual.

[Belle2Be]

I don't really see what the problem is. Paperback books hit an expiration, why shouldn't digital? Of course, I'm assuming the limit is a reasonable number per area, which may not be the case.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Belle2Be

I don't really see what the problem is. Paperback books hit an expiration, why shouldn't digital? Of course, I'm assuming the limit is a reasonable number per area, which may not be the case.

If HarperCollins had requested 100 lends I could agree. I might not like it but I could agree. I do know that I have read MMPB books much more than 26 times per copy. That's just greedy. I bet these jackasses don't read.