Canadian Public Libraries for Fair Ebook Pricing Launches Website

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Barcey

None of that has anything to do with the 5 major publishing houses demanding "friction" in ebook library lending.

I don't recall that they all demanded friction. But I do remember one or two of them suggesting a system where it would be necessary to go physically into the library to borrow eBooks, with an exception for the disabled. I thought that was a reasonable way to protect eBook sales, even though it went against my personal interests. Reasonable or not, those publishers failed to get this.

Originally Posted by Barcey

They all stopped providing ebooks to libraries at any cost.

I have been borrowing Kindle-format major publisher books from US libraries, via Overdrive, since late 2011, and cannot recall a period as you describe. It's true that two did not cooperate at all back around 2012-2013 (Macmillan and Simon & Schuster), and one didn't usually offer libraries the titles I was interested in (Hachette). But about two years ago, that dramatically changed for the better.

For the last year or two, I almost always see American libraries offering the titles I want at search.overdrive.com. Sometimes no library whose card I possess has licensed the book, but that is another issue -- and not a big one if you live and work where I do, thus being able to obtain multiple library cards. Now, sometimes the eBook I want is only available EPUB via Axis360 (Baker & Taylor), 3M, or OneClickDigital, but that is rare. For those cases, here is the story:

http://goodereader.com/blog/digital-...-via-overdrive

3M Cloud Library and Baker and Taylor both tried to enter negotiations with Amazon, but were meant with disdain and apathy. Ultimately the talks broke down. If Amazon was ever serious about the library business, why would they only deal with one company and not all of them?

With a few of the eBooks, on my TBR list, that I can't borrow, the reason is geo-restrictions. But the great majority are from university presses, especially Oxford University Press. Every one of the big five is much better than them, on these issues.

Why do you think it should be directed at Amazon instead of the publishers that demand it?

I did criticize S&S years ago, on this board, when they were boycotting Overdrive. Maybe they read my posts and decided I was right

[Barcey]

It's not hard to find. http://http://www.thedigitalshift.co...ith-overdrive/

The desire to increase this friction may lead the recalcitrant publishers to demand a business model in which they will only make their ebooks available to public libraries if they are used in the library or if a patron is required to bring their device to the library and load the title onto the device in the library, then bring it home.

As most people know who are following the tribulations of libraries trying to stock ebooks, four of the Big Six publishers are not making any ebooks available to libraries at all (except titles already sold in the past.) Random House continues to supply all their titles to libraries as ebooks with only the “one loan at a time per copy purchased” limitation, but they have just raised the prices of those books to libraries substantially. HarperCollins was widely villified a year ago when they introduced a limitation of 26 loans per copy purchased, but this is apparently now more widely being seen as an acceptable limitation. (Random House pricing and the others’ total withdrawal from the market are making 26 loans look good!)

http://http://www.thedigitalshift.co...alks-with-ala/

Molly Raphael, ALA’s president, said in a blog posting on Wednesday that publishers and libraries both want to bring authors and readers together but that some of their goals diverge. She said a key issue at each meeting was publishers’ concern about sales since the ebook lending transaction presents less “friction” than the traditional print transaction.
“The online availability of ebooks alters this friction calculation, and publishers are concerned that the ready download-ability of library ebooks could have an adverse effect on sales,” Raphael said.

[ottdmk]

Just a quick note about the public lending right and Canada: Canada's implementation is unique in that a) only Canadian authors are eligible and b) the PLR program isn't linked to Canadian copyright legislation. If you're interested, here's a link to the FAQ.

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

Just a quick note about the public lending right and Canada: Canada's implementation is unique in that a) only Canadian authors are eligible and b) the PLR program isn't linked to Canadian copyright legislation. If you're interested, here's a link to the FAQ.

The UK PLR isn't that different - authors have to be EU/EEA resident

https://www.plr.uk.com/registrationservice/faq.htm


PLR round the world

https://www.plrinternational.com/plraroundtheworld.pdf