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im_a_dr_not_ t1_jdy0po1 wrote

If you can buy a digital book, you can lend a digital book. Same as physical book.

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[deleted] t1_jdy2kn4 wrote

As an individual perhaps, but libraries have long had to buy their books (and other media) at the special (much higher) rate intended for lending/rental institutions.

There's also the issue that in this case internet archive had moved away from distributing copyrighted material on a strict 1:1 basis with a corresponding physical copy so this particular case was more complex than the lending of personal property.

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EmbarrassedHelp t1_jdyb1b6 wrote

> There's also the issue that in this case internet archive had moved away from distributing copyrighted material on a strict 1:1 basis with a corresponding physical copy so this particular case was more complex than the lending of personal property.

The judge ruled that this was irrelevant though, which was really stupid. Buying 1 copy should mean that you have one copy to lend out through physical or digital means. It shouldn't matter what form it was in when you bought it.

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[deleted] t1_jdyd2sz wrote

Unfortunately, that's not how IP law works though. Different copies come with different licenses as far as what you can do with them. It is what it is.

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peanutmilk t1_je1zch7 wrote

It's not the same though. You can't lend a digital book, you can only copy it. The actual electrons that represent the book in your memory drive are copied over every time you "lend it" so it is not quite the same as with the physical book.

When you buy a physical book, you're also not allowed to make copies of it

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