Keep reading after returning book early?

[Rbneader]

Originally Posted by jackm8

Back in the days, you had authors complaining of libraries even existing. I warrant that some oppose the idea even today. Digital books throw another argument into the fray. You can lend, sell and borrow all bought paper books, but just lending a single digital book in a household poses many issues that are often only solved by removing drm.

A surprising number of authors and publishers do still believe that libraries are bad or wrong in some way. It's astonishing.

The way current DRM schemes limit first sale rights and basic things people don't even think need to be legislated like lending a book to friends is one of the many problems publishers and book stores are totally uninterested in confronting, unless they can use it to harvest more sellable data. On the other hand, authors do want to get paid and it's perfectly fair for them to try and ensure they do.

I've ended up mostly not engaging with published books because it's all such a hassle, and if people don't want my money that's fine. There's a lot of excellent webcomics and online fiction available.

[Rbneader]

Originally Posted by hobnail

Back before we could buy MP3s I ripped all of my CDs so I could listen to them on my computer. I don't know if that's a copyright violation. I would never "share" them with anyone (remembering the Napster days).

Ripping CDs is usually a copyright violation, but it depends on your jurisdiction. Sometimes the legal issue is breaking DRM if present, sometimes or in some jurisdictions shifting the format from CD to digital files is the problem.

So, much like OP and the library books, you probably weren't committing theft, but you were probably violating copyright laws. OP may also be violating the EULA for their library ebook software or their library's policies. That EULA may or may not be legally enforceable, though courts do tend to be extremely protective of copyright.

None of this is as straightforward as some people act like it is.

To circle back to OP's question, sometimes disconnecting from the internet means the book will stick around until re-connnected, but sometimes the ereader software tracks the loan period whether the device is online or not.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Rbneader

I compared ebooks to digital pictures.

A purloined, copied, lent, what have you, ebook is an exact and indistinguishable version of the original. And if you can't see the difference and think the old master could be swapped out with the digital picture without anyone's being the wiser....

[Quoth]

If a book expires, you renew it.

DRM removal on bought ebooks, CD ripping etc are irrelevant. It's a loan, a borrow. Here the library is free.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Not sure how library loans would behave on a Kindle since local libraries do not support Amazon formats. On my Kobos, the clock keeps ticking even if the device is offline and the ePub expires when the loan period is over.

I think the issue is that an Early return now allows a premature checkout.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Rbneader

A surprising number of authors and publishers do still believe that libraries are bad or wrong in some way. It's astonishing.

.

Before e-books... How many copies would sell WITHOUT Library purchases??

Then there is the whole issue of Print Publishing. First the Publisher has to consider the possible return on a Print Run (or reprint) IIRC one SF publisher minimum run was 5K copies, which was why so many OOP of well liked titles. the next 5K will take forever and warehouse space costs money. (Which begs A 12T drive takes the same space as a 1T drive so why not keep as much backlist as the Author allows. Any sale should be welcomed.)

Even way back when... there were 'vanity presses'. where an author funded the print run, removing some of the publisher risk avoidance issues.

[Renate]

Some reader software only checks the expiration date when opening a book.
If you don't exit the reader you can continue to read on these.

I certainly think that removing DRM to use a library book in perpetuity is wrong.
Squeezing another day out of a book that you haven't quite finished once in a while?

I always take out books for 7 days and mostly kill them in 3 days.
I'm not sure how/if I can return them early.

[jackm8]

Originally Posted by issybird

Again, you can’t analogize physical media and digital media in any meaningful fashion. Purchasing an actual book is not the same thing as purchasing a license.

Well, they certainly can be compared. Book get damaged with use, lost, there's a physical limit on how many of them can be loaned out at one time. Library system of delays and penalties is built on paper books. I'm really not trying to choose sides. All I'm saying is that legality is still in the flux. Nothing is decided.

We now see printed books market as plainly regulated and logical affair, but it really wasn't so in the past. As soon as printing press became available, it ushered an era of piracy and disorder. It took a lot of time before it was all regulated to the state that it is today. Even libraries themselves, we see them as a public good, but they came a long way from institutions that chained their books and had them always behind their doors, to libraries that loan the books out.

To be clear. I'm pretty conservative regarding this. I'm actually leaning to the opinion that libraries shouldn't lend out certain ebooks at all. They're just too easy to pirate.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Renate

Some reader software only checks the expiration date when opening a book.
If you don't exit the reader you can continue to read on these.

I certainly think that removing DRM to use a library book in perpetuity is wrong.
Squeezing another day out of a book that you haven't quite finished once in a while?

I always take out books for 7 days and mostly kill them in 3 days.
I'm not sure how/if I can return them early.

If the library is using Overdrive, you can do so with Libby at https://libbyapp.com/shelf If you are not configured, you'll have to configure it for all of the library cards you have that allow Overdrive.

[JSWolf]

There is one advantage to keeping a library loan past it's return date. Some publishers only allow so many loans. So if you have to borrow it a second time, you take that loan away from someone else.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Renate

I certainly think that removing DRM to use a library book in perpetuity is wrong.
Squeezing another day out of a book that you haven't quite finished once in a while?

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There is one advantage to keeping a library loan past it's return date. Some publishers only allow so many loans. So if you have to borrow it a second time, you take that loan away from someone else.

I admit I'm in this camp.

[JSWolf]

Another advantage is that you could end up very far back of the line that if there is a loan limit, you'll never get it again. Even if you get it, it could be a long time. Do you want to read a book at least 1/2 way and then have to wait a few months to finish it or find out you can't get it again?

I feel that if you do delete all copies after you've finished reading and you don't give out any copies, it's not an issue (IMHO). But you have to be actively reading it when the time is up.