Tag: Owners’ Rights Initiative

Why You Can’t Find Some Bestselling E-Books @ Public Libraries

Linda Reimer

The answer to the question of “Why you can’t find some bestselling e-books in public libraries (or via public libraries online digital catalogs) has several aspects to it but three points rise head and shoulders above the rest.

Firstly, some publishers, including Simon & Schuster, simply will not sell e-books to public libraries – period. For example, if you’d like to read the e-book Team of Rivals by Doris Goodwin, which is indeed published by Simon & Schuster, you won’t find it in the STLS Digital Catalog because Simon & Schuster won’t allow us to purchase a copy for the Digital Catalog!*1

Secondly, the prices some publishers charge for the e-books they sell to public libraries are more than triple the list price of the hardcover versions of the same books. For example, the new book My Beloved World by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has a hardcover list price of $27.95 and the e-book version available for consumers currently costs $14.99 via Amazon and $12.99 via Barnes and Noble. And guess how much it costs public libraries to purchase a copy? Does an e-book cost public libraries $12.99 or14.99? No not even close! The publisher Knopf Double (an offshoot of Random House) charges public libraries $83.85 for that same title! So the publishing company wants public libraries to pay $68.86 more than the $14.99 price currently being charged by Amazon for that same e-title. I’m all for companies’ making a profit but $83.85 is a really steep price to charge public libraries for a book that costs consumers, in both e-book and print formats, less than fifteen dollars.

And thirdly, in a word ownership! Or to be more precise the lack of ownership of digital content – most people do not realize that e-books (and e-videos, e-music titles and e-audio books) are being sold in a different way than traditional formatted items. For example, if you buy a print book, DVD, music CD or audio book on CD – you bought and you own it. You can sell that item later, loan it to your sister, your mother or grandfather, keep the book for 50 years and pass it along to your granddaughter as a cherished item and even recycle that bestseller that has been read by so many friends and family members that it is falling apart.

In contrast, the way e-books and other digital content are being sold today…

Well that can be summed up in a word too – “licensed.”

Currently most user end agreements for both e-books purchased by individuals and by libraries state that the purchaser is being granted a license to access the e-book or other digital content. So you can’t lend most e-books or other e-content to your mother, sister or best friend to read, and you can’t re-sell e-books because of course you don’t own them. And theoretically, since you’ve licensed the content the publishing company can revoke that license and you as the licensee probably are not going to be able to transfer the e-books you’ve acquired over a number of years to your granddaughter via your will; because again; you don’t own the e-books.

If you consider those three points you’ll understand why some of the new and popular e-books you’d like to read are not available in our Digital Catalog.

And perhaps needless to say The American Library Association and a number of other organizations*2 that value the traditional First Sale Doctrine that applies to printed books but not currently to e-books and other e-content have started a lobby group titled The Owners’ Right Initiative whose motto regarding digital content is “You bought it. You own it. You have a right to re-sell it!”

And having said all of that here are two links to short FYI type articles on this subject from The Digital Book World site:

Article 1 is titled E-Book Dispatches from 2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting:

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/the-real-cost-of-ebooks-for-libraries/

And article 2 is titled The Real Cost of Ebooks for Libraries:

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/e-book-dispatches-from-2013-ala-midwinter-meeting/

And a third and fourth related links to the official definition of what First Sale Doctrine means in the United States courtesy of the U.S. Copyright Office (Code S 109) and a more accessible explanation offered by The Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Here’s the U.S. Copyright Office link to Section 109 of the U.S. Copyright Laws:

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#109

And the link to the more accessible explanation of First Sale Doctrine offered by the EFF:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/12/first-sale-under-siege-if-you-bought-it-you-should-own-it

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Digital Book Wire. (2013, February 5). The Real Cost of Ebooks for Libraries. DBW. Online.

Inouye, Alan. (2013, February 6.) E-book Dispatches from 2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting. DBW. Online.

Mcksherry, Corynne. (2012, December 23). 2012 in Review: First Sale Under Siege — If You Bought It, You Should Own It. Electronic Frontier Foundation: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World. Online.

Limitations on exclusive rights: Effect of transfer of particular copy or phonorecord.  United States Copyright Office. (Accessed 2013, February 6). Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code: Section 109. U.S. Copyright Office. Online.

*1. Public libraries have found a loop hole in this procedure– while we can’t purchaseSimon & Schuster e-books for patrons to download to their Kindles, Nooks, iPads etc. We can purchase them through Barnes & Noble for our circulating Nooks. So if you don’t see a bestselling book in the STLS Digital Catalog that is published by Simon & Schuster – like Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (the book is the basis for the movie Lincoln) – ask the staff – you can make a request and we can purchase a copy of the e-book title at the e-book price listed on the Barnes & Noble website and you’ll be able to read it on one of our circulating e-reader – not your e-reader unfortunately; but you will have access to the title as an e-book.

*2. Here’s a list of all the groups that belong to the Owners’ Rights Initiative as taken from their website. The link to the website follows the list.

ORI Members:

American Free Trade Association

American Association of Law Libraries

American Library Association

Association of Service and Computer Dealers International and the North American Association of Telecommunications Dealers (AscdiNatd)

Association of Research Libraries

Computer and Communications Industry Association

Chegg

CXtec

eBay

Etsy

Goodwill Industries

Home School Legal Defense Fund (HSLDA)

Impulse Technology

International Imaging Technology Counsel (ITC)

Internet Commerce Coalition

Network Hardware Resale

Overstock

Powell’s Books

Quality King Distributors

Redbox

United Network Equipment Dealers Association (UNEDA)

XS International

http://ownersrightsinitiative.org/about/

 

Tongue In Cheek Article On Tech Supplies You Should Have On Hand For The End Of Mayan Calendar Apocalypse & ALA Joins The Owners’ Rights Initiative

Linda Reimer

Tongue In Cheek Article On Tech Supplies You Should Have On Hand For The End Of Mayan Calendar Apocalypse: I came across a humorous article in the New York Times titled Be Ready for the End of the World, or an Emergency of a Lesser Sort. And in the article the author, Nick Bilton, manages to be both humorous and serious at the same time. He discusses the tech gadgets you should have on hand just in case the end of the Mayan calendar – which occurs tomorrow Friday, December 21, 2012 – should…well…bring about the end of the world. And then the author makes suggestions of tech items that would be helpful to keep on hand in case a natural disaster strikes your area. His suggestions include the usual items one would expect like extra battries, portable generators and a supply of canned foods but also some items I wouldn’t have thought of like a solar lamp, portable water filtration systems, Mylar thermal blankets and a wad of cash for the times when the power is out and you can’t use a credit or debit card to pay for items.

Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/technology/personaltech/equipment-for-the-mayan-apocalypse-or-a-lesser-emergency.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&ref=technology&adxnnlx=1356022289-2fktgPGwqjMv1aJei2CXYw

ALA Joins The Owners’ Rights Initiative: The American Library Association (ALA) has joined forces with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), The American Free Trade Association, eBay, Redbox, The Computer and Communications Industry Association, The American Association of Law Libraries and other groups to work toward the goal of allowing consumers to actual be able to buy digital content in the form of e-books, digital movies, digital television shows and music. The organization logo appears on their website and loudly proclaims their ideals on a bright red banner “You bought it. You own it. You have a right to re-sell it;” and that sums up the crux of the matter nicely! Because that is of course what happens with physical materials that you buy – you buy them, you own them and you can sell them or give them away as you wish. And right now you don’t actually own any digital content that you “buy.” Instead, as I’ve mentioned in previous blog postings, when you click that buy button on Amazon or iTunes to purchase a movie, television show or song you’re not actually buying the item itself you’re buying a license to access the content – it is as if the digital items are all software – say versions of Microsoft Word. And member of The Owners’ Rights initiative believe that digital content should be treated just like its physical counterparts; so just as you really own a printed book, DVD or CD that you purchase you should be able to really buy and own digital content and then give it to someone else or sell it later if you wish to.

Just to reiterate the point (and I’ll only step up on my soap box for a minute – I promise!) media companies have a current business model that supposes that digital content should be treated like software and thus consumers pay to access the content but they don’t own it and can’t sell it, give it away or easily loan it to someone else. ORI is working to change that business model and of course this entire issue is a gray one legal wise because the technology has changed so fast the copyright laws haven’t kept up with those changes. So the issue of the rights of owners of digital content is a huge one that you’ll be hearing a great deal about in the near future.

And ORI has a website where you can go and access a list of all the members of the ORI, sign up to receive the ORI newsletter or just see what the entire issue is all about in a more in-depth way. Here’s the link:

http://ownersrightsinitiative.org/

References

Bilton, Nick. (2012, December 19). Be Ready for the End of the World, or an Emergency of a Lesser Sort. New York Times. Online.

Library Association Joins Owners’ Rights Imitative. (2012, November 5). Library Hotline.

Owners’ Rights initiative. (2012, December 20). Online.