#ebooksforall — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ebooksforall, aggregated by home.social.
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The cost of library e-books gets more insane every year. S&S wants $130 for the audiobook of the new Stephen King short story collection. . .for just two years, when it expires and our library has to buy another license. Nope!
#ebooksforall #audiobooks #overdrive #libby #ebooks #pricegouging #libraries #library #librarian @librarians -
This is your periodic reminder that publishers and Overdrive (owned by venture vultures KKR) are killing your public libraries with the costs of content for the Libby app. They want $120 for one (1) copy of the Heir of Fire audiobook by Sarah J. Maas. @librarians #ebooks #libraries #eBooksForAll #LibbyApp
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"Libraries have generally proven reluctant to use their power to shape the demand curve and shift digital budgets away from expensive Big 5 bestsellers, even when it means sacrificing diversity and depth in their own digital collections."
Following up on yesterday's post, I wanted to expand on the topic a bit more without the pressure of representing the day job, so I hit the blog.
#libraries #publishing #EbooksForAll
https://loudpoet.com/2024/01/17/on-library-ebook-licenses-patron-demand-and-power-dynamics/
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What is an equitable hold ratio for a bestseller vs. a midlist title? More importantly, how does a library prioritize which readers deserve equitable access to ebooks, and which ones don't?
Spoiler: Fair licensing terms are only part of the puzzle.
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If you're in NYC next Friday, catch me participating in this provocatively titled in-person event, Exploring the Anti-Ownership Ebook Economy, attempting to be a voice of reason while discussing the "Economics of Ebook Publisher/Platform Workflows."
There's no livestream but there will apparently be an audio feed available after the event. Full program and more details at the link.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exploring-the-anti-ownership-ebook-economy-tickets-668163594297
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☝🏽 Listening to this on my run, I can't tell how much was tweaked, but it's still overly reliant on opinionated interviews without any fact-checking. It presents naive overviews of the music industry, ebook production and distribution, and how public libraries actually work, while frequently conflating the Internet Archive and traditional public libraries.
Bizarrely, it even manages to create several moments of sympathy for publishers?!? 😐
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More from Alabanese:
"IA does not reproduce the Works in Suit to provide criticism, commentary, or information about them. IA’s e-books do not 'add something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the with new expression, meaning or message.' IA simply scans the Works in Suit to become e-books and lends them to users of its website for free." Hon. John G. Koeltl
#libraries #publishing #EbooksForAll #DigitalRightsForLibraries
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"If Judge John G. Koeltl’s questions are any indication, the Internet Archive is facing an uphill battle."
Albanese is one of a few industry journalists I trust to understand the nuances of thorny issues they write about, and his coverage of yesterday's events suggest things did not go well for the Internet Archive.
Hubris is a bitch, and as always, the collateral damage could be extensive. 😠
#libraries #publishing #EbooksForAll #DigitalRightsForLibraries
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I hate everything about this stupid lawsuit. 🤬
The IA grossly (and I believe purposefully) overreached with its ill-conceived "National Emergency Library," and publishers took the bait and went all-in on a lawsuit, looking to kill CDL outright.
Now, real libraries are caught in the middle when all they want are fair, reasonable terms to acquire and lend the ebooks their patrons want to read.
#libraries #publishing #EbooksForAll #DigitalRightsForLibraries
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In the midst of the various challenges libraries are facing these days, they need more support from everyone who claims to believe in their societal value and fundamental mission of providing free, equal, and equitable access to information in all its forms.
Publishers, it seems, believe it's a better idea to kick them while they're down. 🤬
#libraries #publishing #EbooksForAll #DigitalRightsForLibraries
https://loudpoet.com/2023/03/20/maybe-publishers-should-love-libraries-a-little-less/
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It's amazing how publishers who routinely claim "We love libraries!" every summer at the conference they hope will replace BEA, find it so much easier to fight them in court — on multiple fronts — rather than figuring out how to come to the table and negotiate in good faith with such a critical partner.
And now it looks like they're pulling other media in, too? WYD?!?
#libraries #publishing #bookstodon #EbooksForAll #DigitalRightsForLibraries #cmonson
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Et voilà, on y est! Dès maintenant, découvrez "l'aube d'un monde meilleur", la dernière histoire du Greg! Je vous souhaite à tous d'agréables fêtes de fin d'année!
https://www.antredugreg.be/laube-dun-monde-meilleur-en-beta-publique/
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Petit cadeau de Noël en approche ! L'aube d'un monde meilleur sera disponible en ebook en version bêta publique ! Restez à l'affût ce 24 décembre !
#instabook #projetinception #beta #ebook #eBooksForAll #ebooks
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Publishers Should be Making E-Book Licensing Better, Not Worse
www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/11/…
www.eff.org/files/banner_libra…
#hash(0x187a550) #hash(0x187a628)
Macmillan, one of the “Big Five” publishers, is imposing new limits on libraries’ access to ebooks—and libraries and their users are fighting back.
Starting last week, the publisher is imposing a two-month embargo period on library ebooks. When Macmillan releases a new book, library systems will be able to purchase only one digital copy for the first eight weeks after it’s published. Macmillan is offering this initial copy for half-price ($30), but that has not taken away the sting for librarians who will need to answer to frustrated users. In large library systems in particular, readers are likely to experience even longer hold queues for new Macmillan e-book releases. For example, under the new Macmillan embargo, the 27 branches of the San Francisco Public Library system, serving a city of nearly 900,000 people, will have to share one single copy right when the demand for the new title is the greatest.
The harms to libraries and their patrons during these two months go far beyond wait times. E-books are a critical resource for library users with vision impairment, dyslexia, and other physical or learning needs. An embargo on new e-books disproportionately harms these readers who rely on digital formats, and violates the principles of equitable access at the core of library services.
After the two-month embargo period ends, libraries will be welcome to purchase additional copies of the e-book under normal terms, which aren’t great to begin with: typically, a $60 price tag for an e-book that can only be lent out to one user at a time for two years or 52 lends, whichever comes first. After that, the library has to license another e-book. On top of that, libraries tend to have different agreements with each of their publishers and vendors, all of which are subject to change.
This is a significant mark-up over what a consumer might expect to pay for a new e-book, and a falsely restrictive model compared to libraries’ rights for physical books. When a library purchases a physical book, the purchase is covered by first sale doctrine, which means the library can lend it out freely, repair it, give it away, or resell it. But libraries don’t have any of those protections when it comes to e-books.
So why is Macmillan imposing additional burdens? In a July memo, CEO John Sargent says the publisher’s move is motivated by “growing fears that library lending was cannibalizing sales” of new e-books and a need to “protect the value of your books during their first format publication,” but fails to present any evidence to back up his claims. (He also ignores existing, consistent evidence to the contrary.)
In response, libraries across the country have boycotted, or at least strongly denounced, Macmillan e-book purchases. In another extraordinary step, the American Library Association has invited library users to sign onto a petition against the new embargo. The campaign, called #eBooksForAll, had over 160,000 signatures before the embargo started last week. Since then, the signature count has climbed to nearly 200,000.
All of this does not mean that Macmillan has it wrong on e-books across the board; for example, Macmillan publishes Tor Books, the only DRM-free imprint in the Big Five.
But of all the Big Five publishers to change e-book terms in the past year, Macmillan’s e-book embargo for libraries is by far the most contentious. The other four—Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster—are surely watching the backlash. We urge readers, and authors who like to be read, to sign the ALA’s petition and let Macmillan know that the embargo is a mistake. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/11/… -
I'm thankful for @[email protected] since I'd not have heard of this embargo by @[email protected] on purchasing of ebooks by public libraries. I'm also thankful to them since I've experienced more breadth and depth in reading than I otherwise would.
#eBooksForAllhttps://www.ocls.info/using-library/e-books/macmillan-publishers-changes-e-book-access