Techdirt Podcast Episode 297: The Future Of Libraries

from the public-good dept

Tue, Sep 7th 2021 1:30pm — Leigh Beadon

The notion that if libraries didn't exist already, the publishing industry wouldn't allow them to exist at all is both a grim joke and a depressing truth, as continually evidenced by the opposition of publishers to seemingly unobjectionable technologies like controlled digital lending, which aim to allow libraries to carry their mission forward into the digital age. This week, we're joined by Jennie Rose Halperin, executive director of the Library Futures Institute, to discuss the institute's new paper on the subject and the legality of and opposition to controlled digital lending, and what it tells us about the future of libraries.

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Filed Under: books, copyright, jennie rose halperin, libraries, library futures, podcast

4 Comments

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GHB (profile), 7 Sep 2021 @ 6:44pm

Actually...
According to this torrentfreak article: https://torrentfreak.com/you-cant-defend-public-libraries-and-oppose-file-sharing-150510/

Publishers hated libraries since before the beginning of copyright law:

Public libraries started appearing in the mid-1800s. At the time, publishers went absolutely berserk: they had been lobbying for the lending of books to become illegal, as reading a book without paying anything first was “stealing”, they argued.

But sadly:

History does repeat itself. As do the people trying to defend obsolete guild-like privileges, even across centuries.

Like a forgotten concept of why copyright allows libraries to loan out books.

Libraries actually predate copyright.
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Jennie, 8 Sep 2021 @ 9:32am

Re: Actually...
Yes! You're totally right, and I can't believe I forgot to mention that libraries predate copyright (big part of our last webinar with Ariel Katz: https://archive.org/details/why-cdl-now)

Check out this tweet, which is a little rejoinder. Thanks for listening!
https://twitter.com/library_futures/status/1359908802271789063
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Samuel Abram (profile), 8 Sep 2021 @ 10:32am

Re: Actually...

Libraries actually predate copyright.

Considering that the Library of Alexandria predated the Statute of Anne, that is over 9000% correct.
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dbrower (profile), 16 Sep 2021 @ 9:40am

Transcript?
A while back there was a an inkling that transcripts were soon to be available.

Is that happening yet? I don't see a visible link anywhere.

thx.
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