Quote:
Originally Posted by Worldwalker
Legality isn't the issue here, though. The effects on authors are the issue.
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I disagree, I think the damage of having your legal right trod upon, and the perceived value of your work diminished, are just as much at issue as raw dollars, but even aside from that, the only way a library could reasonably be considered here is if every library had an unlimited number of copies, and gave them out to any one who wanted one, to keep indefinitely.
And they don't, so even the POTENTIAL 'damage' is not worth mentioning in this context.
But more to the point, we, as a society, decided that lending libraries are of value to society, so we create them and support them, and in doing so, authors agree to accept the small potential 'lost' sales from them.
And they pay for the books they acquire and lend, because we as a society decided that intellectual property like books have value, and that value should be protected by laws, which sometimes means paying for them.