|
Right, the Internet Archive/Open Library project wasn't some sort of fly-by-night operation; they had major backers and funding and would have had lawyers on board with the idea that your right to do anything you want with a paper book once you've bought it includes scanning it and lending it out, not just lending it out in paper form.
IMO, it's pretty clearly in the public interest for libraries to be able to archive e-books and make them available for lending at little or no cost. And it's in the interest of publishers and writers, too. How many paper books have I checked out of the library that introduced me to new authors and genres and books I subsequently bought by the dozens? How many kids developed a lifelong love of reading from being able to check out any book they wanted for free from a library?
|