Quote:
Originally Posted by Hellmark
Your library charges per book?
The only ones who really can make a profit from it are the prolific ones, and usually only the ones who are able to do that are the ones who manage to be famous.
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My library is fairly small so a lot of what I read is interlibrary loan--and that costs me 2.50 per book.
As for most of this, I'll just have to respectfully disagree. I think it's okay to protect the copyright holder for at least a lifetime if not longer. Saying it isn't public domain does not mean the public doesn't have access (as someone above said that I gained from previous works and built upon that--well those works would still be available for me to purchase. Just because they aren't public domain doesn't mean I don't have access to them.) I value books and I value the work that went into them. I don't mind paying something for them. I pay taxes to the library and they buy books. That helps support authors, publishers and innovators.
As for my favorites, and whether older stuff would be my favorites--I have access to even older works now whether they are public domain or not. There's plenty of older stuff out there, some of if PD and some not. And in my case making it public domain would not encourage me to seek it out. It's a recommendation that causes me to seek out a work and the act of paying for it would not keep me from accessing it, assuming it's a fairly accessible fee. If it is not, I will find something else to read and wish luck and happiness on those who can afford the price--just like I might want to drive an Aston Martin or a Lexus, but won't be doing that. I hold no ill will that it's not in my budget, nor do I think that the technology or the car is owed to me as a "public" domain right.
It's fine with me if people want to read only pubic domain works, but it's also fine with me if other authors/writers/publishers attempt to sell that work.