Yassie > moved to 0w0.isJul 10, 2023

As a former librarian I wish a very friendly Fuck You and Die to book publishers. They are the scum of the Earth.

They hate libraries. Did you know that they induce artificial scarcity by making libraries pay for each digital copy of a book? Despite ebooks being infinitely replicable, they make libraries pay for more than one copy at a time. Publishers deliberately force a limit on the supply of digital library books to extort more money out of libraries for popular titles.

In addition, publishers lobbied (in the UK) to make library ebooks only work through their apps on mobile and PC, and not compatible with any Kindle/Kobo/etc so people wouldn’t get a good experience. There is a cartel — made primarily of a company called Overdrive. Their app is absolute buggy dogshit. A far cry from the breezy and simple interface of an e-reader.

But it gets worse. Original proposals from the publishers wanted it so that service users could only download ebooks while physically in the library, thus negating the convenience of them!

Despite ebooks being cheaper to produce than a traditional book and infinitely reproducable, Overdrive will sometimes charge more for an ebook than a supplier would charge for the equivalent copy.

Publishers would have lobbied against the invention of public libraries if they could. And take it from me — public libraries are one of the few open spaces left on this planet where one can just exist at without needing to pay for anything.

Show threadYassie > moved to 0w0.isJul 10, 2023
Also libraries pay royalties to authors every time a book is borrowed. If you borrow a book from the library, you are not only supporting a public service but you are also supporting the author too!
Show threadJessamynJul 10, 2023
@yassie_j Wow I am fascinated by the compare/contrast aspect of this with the US. Here we do not pay royalties per-lend. Do you have Libby there or do you have the old Overdrive app? I am #StillMad that they sunsetted the Overdrive app here. Some people like to read ebooks on their laptops!
Show threadamd

@jessamyn @yassie_j I was going to say this.

IANALibrarian, but I’ve never heard of this and it sounds great to have authors get a cut…

But our poor underfunded libraries would get even more taxed by adding this cost.

Jul 10, 2023 at 7:22pmWeb
Show threadYassie > moved to 0w0.isJul 10, 2023
@amd @jessamyn in the UK, public library issues are pooled together and the statistics sent to the Dept for Culture, Media, and Sport. DCMS then pays authors the relevant royalties based on the amount of times their works have been issued!
Show thread13 barn owls in a trenchcoatJul 11, 2023
@yassie_j @jessamyn @amd I get paid via an independent body called ALCS, and even magazine contributors get a small payout for lending, copying and citation. (Those who retain our copyright - publishers love to make us give that up.) Even applies to foreign writers published in the UK!