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Originally Posted by spellbanisher
Though I agree with many of the points you make pietrocrazy, I think if publishers and other entertainment companies stated suing libraries there would be significant public backlash, and it might affect the way people think about copyright. People may not use libraries very much anymore, but it is instilled in us from a very young age that the library is a benign and almost sacred institution. Publishers would have to spend a lot of money to try to transform public affection towards libraries into antipathy. Corporations don't like to confront public institutions directly. Its runs too much risk of public backlash or of incurring a stigma of being acompany that will do anything to further its bottomline. It would also make them look like bullies. What most companies instead do is use their paid politicians to slowly bleed public industries dry of funding. Lobbying is cheaper and more effective than lawsuits. They also use their lackeys in the media to tarnish and undermine the belief in the necessity of public industries.
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You definitely make a good point about possible public backlash. I just tend to be a little more cynical; I expect that people would be really upset for a while and then forget it like they do so many other things. But I don't think it would ever even come to a lawsuit, because, like you said, there are so many other pressures in place to prevent it from ever becoming necessary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton
Perhaps we should be asking ourselves if it is right to be suing a library for the dissemination of knowledge, the reason for the libraries existence.
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I admire your idealism. Unfortunately, common sense
doesn't stop lawsuits.