Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I'm surprised the loophole has remained open this long, to be honest.
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I know that hard cases make bad law, but what about the Overdrive collections of the US armed services branches, and the Department of Defense One Click Digital collection? Should our soldiers deployed to Germany, or Britain, or less pleasant places, be stopped from downloading books, whether military history or for reading relaxation?
By the way, British soldiers on American Army bases are allowed to use our collections. Look at all the loopholes that creates as well-read tommies* travel!
And it's more than soldiers. The US Army collection is openly available to family members as various as "parent in law" (that would be my wife and I**) or "former spouse family member." (
See "Relationship" pull-down menu here.). That makes for another big loophole, since the millions of people in one or another of those relationship categories live in many countries.
Also, when we go to Canada, are we supposed to not download a book from our local public library Overdrive collection? If it wasn't for this kind of thread, I wouldn't have a clue that is against a rule (if it really is).
Suppose that someone from Britain, vacationing in the US, downloads a James Bond book from their home public library Overdrive collection, despite being in a country where the local rights holder, Amazon Publishing, does not cooperate with public libraries. Amazon should have known that could happen when they bought those rights, so I don't see any unfairness.
Right in front of me, I happen to have my daughters's Barnet London Borough Library Membership card. Lucky she doesn't know the PIN, so I'm not tempted to open another loophole
I know it's easy to make a bit of fun of the situation. And it's hard to envision a cheap practical way to unify worldwide rights without creating new downsides.
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* I fear this word is ridiculously dated. Is there a new one?
** But don't be jealous. The Army collection isn't large. The US Navy looks better
