NY Times: “Libraries Pay More for E-Books. Some States Want to Change That.”

From The NY Times:

That’s because library access to digital books and digital audiobooks — often collectively referred to as e-books — generally costs much more than the print version of these books. The Whatcom system must pay $51.99 to license a digital copy of “Fahrenheit 451,” which can be checked out by one patron at a time, and which expires after two years. Other licensing agreements offered by major publishers expire after a set number of checkouts.

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The issue is causing tension in the book community. Librarians complain that publishers charge so much to license e-books that it’s busting library budgets and frustrating efforts to provide equitable access to reading materials. Big publishers and many authors say that e-book library access undermines their already struggling business models. Smaller presses are split.

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The Connecticut law and proposed New Jersey legislation were designed with Maryland and New York in mind, so are not based upon copyright, said Kyle K. Courtney, a librarian and lawyer and director of Harvard Library’s Copyright and Information Policy.

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Beyond price, librarians are concerned that e-book licenses interfere with the mission of libraries to preserve history and culture. A one or two-year license doesn’t work for research libraries, said Alan Inouye, a consultant and former director of public policy for the American Library Association. “Their time horizon is in centuries.”

Read the Complete Article (about 1130 words)

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Funding, Libraries, News