Quote:
Originally Posted by haertig
I don't think the current pricing model would work for a national library. Where you have a limited number of copies, bought at very high prices compared to an individual purchaser. What might work is an "immediately to public domain" model. You write a book, accept a one-time upfront payment, which would need to be rather significant, and then your book is out there forever. For anybody, anywhere, for free. Therefore no wait lists. No return dates. There would also have to be some kind of vetting process so scammers wouldn't dump garbage books in there. I would pay a subscription into a national library that worked on a model like that. Subscriptions would pay for acquiring the books. Totally unworkable I'm sure, but I can dream can't I?!
|
Well, some countries (Norway comes to mind) pay writers a fee but with qualifications.
But "garbage books" wouldn't be much of an issue for ebooks. Just tie tbe payment to full read checkouts, much like Kindle Unlimited. No need for gatekeepers deciding for the public what tbey should or shouldn't read: just let readers choose and pay or not based on that. Works fine for KU and by now they have about as many subscribers as many small coubtries might muster.
It would not be hard, technically anyway, for a country to demand compulsory licensing of a handful of simultaneous checkouts at a reasonable price for a national ebook library.
Politically? No idea.
Thing is, public libraries aren't universally supported and even where tbey exist, their focus is limited. Publishers are usually more powerful than whatever pro-library lobby might exist.
Not