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Originally Posted by Catlady
Lending to three or four people is something people can do, and have done, with physical books. I used to lose books routinely when they were passed around from person to person. Physical books are also available secondhand; the publisher and author get no profit from that buying and selling. This sharing and recycling is not new and it's not piracy.
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Many publishers would stop the used book trade if it was possible for them to do. Yes lending with paper books happens all the time, but what many call lending or sharing with eBooks is really giving someone else a perfect condition copy of the book file which they can also easily pass on, it can add up quickly to dozens of copies. There are of course mechanisms to lend eBooks that make sure this isn't the case, but many big pubs don't allow for them. Myself I lend out an old reader with books on it from time to time and although it's technically a second copy of the book I figure it's close to the spirit the way I'd lend a paper book.
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Why not go after the real pirates and the file-sharing sites, instead of inconveniencing Aunt Mary who wants to share a book with Cousin Pete? And who will probably figure out how to do it anyway?
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Because they know it's impossible & too costly to stop? I don't know. I was just throwing in something I hadn't seem mentioned in this thread that I've seen mentioned by publishers over the years. I'm sure Aunt Mary could figure it out, but will she bother to try? Many people when you tell them eBooks can't be shared like paper books just shrug and accept it. If it was just sharing with Cousin Pete & Mrs. Peabody next door they probably wouldn't get as worried. It's if them Cousin Pete shares it with his bowling team, who in turn share it with their families & friends which all of them look at as just being nice and sharing a book.