Your scenario only takes into account the existing usage fees some libraries currently pay. It does not take into account the capital cost of the original purchase of the books.
I didn't realise you were thinking of flat fees in terms of loans from a library - that might work. A general flat fee administrated for all reading matter doesn't work.
Paul
Quote:
Originally Posted by acidzebra
No, it doesn't - that is pretty much the point of the digital information age, you don't NEED the physical copy in stock.
I "lend" book X from the library and ping the library statistics server (using my library account, formerly tied to my library pass), it records one use and they still pay out authors depending on usage. As for tracking, libraries already track your book use - no change there.
I could think of flat-fees for heavy readers, X-books per months deals, usage-based, the possibilities of the digital library as a counterpart to the old-fashioned library with flat fees are endless.
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