The idea of royalties for library lends of print books is a European one, as Keri mentioned. Sorry, Sparky…it is much more common, worldwide, for authors to get these royalties than not; it’s just not common in the US. They already have the system overseas for libraries, and some people wish the US did, as well. I suspect they don’t realize the problems inherent in taking it to used books. I can pass on that whole system (libraries and USBs, as well), as an author, believe it or not. It would be a nightmare to change over, and I have bigger fish to fry.

Misi is not entirely right, IMO. I don’t think the print book will ever disappear. I’ll skip all my reasons why, but I have my reasons for it. e-Books aren’t about destroying the print market. They are about choices for readers.

HOWEVER, she is right about how the copyright laws apply to e-books. In addition, DRM brings the Millennium Act into play. e-Books ARE licensed software, though they are book software. For more information, try these links…
http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=3151
http://brennalyonsden.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-pirates-hurt-writers.html (complete with links to a few other articles)
http://jude-mason.blogspot.com/2008/12/e-piracy-what-it-is-and-how-it-hurts-us.html

Sorry again, Sparky. Stopping the copying of IP (intellectual property) materials has been illegal under simple copyright for well over a century. The USB issue has nothing to do with copying anything. That’s why it’s an expansion of rights…one that I will note again I’m not for, at this stage of the game.

Anne! You have your head on straight. Thank you for mentioning the efforts to curtail piracy. I should also mention that print authors are not immune to this, since OCR scanners are being used to pirate print-only books as e-books. I’m sure Charlotte/Charlee will be ecstatic that you’ve noticed what we’re trying to do.

Joanne, I actually cover how the sale of used DVDs and CDs differs from the sale of used e-books in my articles. It does differ, even if the e-book started out on a disc, but you are right that there is no more problem with selling a used DVD than selling a used print book…and shouldn’t be.

Brenna

one day there will only be e-books and all you’ll get is a license to read, not ownership

I don’t think point is invalid. At the moment, there’s no legal way to resell ebooks, so for all intents and purposes, what we buy is a license rather than outright ownership.

Like Marianne McA, I think the subscription model is worth trying, whether royalties are paid upfront when a book is added to a subscription service, or taken out every time the book is read, or paid yearly when the subscription service opts to keep the book in its catalogue. Sort of like a virtual library, or a DVD rental company (do they pay royalties?). Currently, my university library subscribes to databases that store back issues of academic journals. Maybe something similar could be done for books?

Also, I haven’t seen it yet to judge how well it’s working (because it’s in another state), but one of our bookstores has a print-on-demand service for books. So if you couple this with a subscription service, it gives everyone the best of both worlds (print option, and cheaper overall cost per book via subscription, with decreased risk for publishers).

It’s not as if reselling old books is somehow a new phenomenon. I’m sure people have been reselling used books since Gutenberg. The only thing that’s changed is the internet. Last time I was at Borders, it was jam-packed, so it’s not like people aren’t buying new print books. This whole thing sounds silly and greedy. Way to turn off the book buying public!

Here in Australia, the government compensates us for books borrowed from libraries, but not for second hand books. I really don’t see how second hand sales could be monitored–there’s just too many avenues for reselling.

I do wish Amazon wouldn’t resell books on the very same page as new books though.

I do wish that Amazon would stop their method of selling used books right there on the new book’s page. it wouldn’t be that fricking hard for them to set a ‘used’ bookstore.

I’m definitely more worried about the pirating of books, both ebook and print, especially since I just tabled one series and I’ve made other decisions regarding what I’m doing for my ebook publishers starting in 2009.

BUT…I do know that whatever Ninc has planned isn’t something that’s never been done-down in Australia (I think) authors do get some percentage of used books sold and books in circulation via library systems.

Regardless of what Ninc’s stand is and why, I can’t support something that’s going to hit the book industry in a bad way-the book industry is already on shaky ground. I worry that the changes they want could impact those who sell our books. I don’t want that.

Surely copyright in it’s current form is one of the consequences of inventing the printing press? And, if that were true, and if e-words overtake printed words as the primary medium of communication, why should we assume that the model of payment that worked in the age of print will be the best for the digital age?

Say it became possible to track every story read, and recompense the author that way – why couldn’t it work? Instead of paying £7.99 for a new book I download it for – guessing, of course – 25p, and for that, I can read it once. After that every time I read it, I pay another… say 12p. (My imaginary e-reader is doing this automatically in some hi-tech way.)
So no book is too expensive – letting people read more – but books that are reread and reread – The Very Hungry Caterpillar – can earn large amounts for their author. And if books are very cheap, there’s less incentive for piracy.
And yes, no second hand books, no right to resale, but if books never went OOP and only cost a tiny amount new, who would lose out?

Used book sellers admittedly would. But any advance in technology renders some jobs obsolete – that has always happened.

I know there’ll be faults in that model – I’m not suggesting it would work as is. But as a thought experiment: I wouldn’t have any problems paying royalties to an author incrementally, by paying a tiny amount every time I read their book, rather than in one lump sum on first purchase.