Quote:
Originally Posted by Ntsimp
When you buy something, it is yours. You have the right to sell, lend, or give it. You don't need permission from a previous owner.
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This is where things get tricky. When you buy an artistic work that is covered under copyright, your rights to use that work are limited. In other words, while you own the physical media, you don't own the content contained on that physical media and your rights to distribute, copy or otherwise change that content are restricted. Since copying has always been considered a no-no with copyright laws, and no one can deny that you cannot transfer your eBook file to a friend without copying the bits (short of handing them your ereader tied to your account), you can't create a new copy of the eBook for your friends, even if you destroy yours when you do it.
Libraries are, in essence, buying a license to copy an eBook in a limited manner, and it is being treated as such. We, the consumers, may not like that fact, and we may, as patrons, argue that the price is too high and unfair and cry about it all day. But as publishing becomes digital, there is this transition period in which old ways of thinking have not yet replaced new ones and there are "mistakes" being made.