Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Hang on a minute, now you're contradicting yourself. Half an hour ago you were claiming that libraries were infringing copyright by distributing ebooks without the copyright holder's permission. Now you claim it's "sad" that they do in fact have to have the copyright holder's permission for the distribution  |
Libraries distribute pBooks under the first-sale doctrine, and it can be done regardless of whether or not the copyright owner agrees. I said they were unauthorized distributors, I didn't say they were infringing copyright (technically they are, but it's considered fair use).
The fact that libraries now only distribute eBooks with the copyright owners permission is sad. From what I've seen, a lot of libraries are really concerned with this. Imagine a future where eBooks are the primary media, that means that Publishers could kill off Libraries at a whim. That's not a good thing for the public.
I don't think we know legally how it would hold up if they tried to distribute eBooks without permission. I'm not aware of a library trying it and/or having a court rule on it.