5 June 2015
The remote e-lending pilot study, jointly commissioned by the Society of
Chief Librarians and The Publishers Association, funded via the British Library
Trust and Arts Council England (ACE) and developed and delivered by MTM London,
has been instrumental in helping stakeholders - publishers, agents, authors,
booksellers and libraries - better understand the impact of remote ebook
lending in English public libraries.
·
The measures, as recommended by William
Sieghart, were put in place to try to establish whether a remote e-lending
service might disrupt the delicate ecology of the print and, still nascent,
digital market and that a fair balance existed between those who loaned the
books for free and those who wanted to be rewarded for creating, publishing and
selling the book.
·
The report will be useful in further shaping
publishers' understanding of the e-lending landscape and their policies
(commercial terms, titles they make available and appropriate lending
conditions frictions) and will help to inform ongoing discussions with authors
and agents.
·
E-lending accounts for only 5% of loans, yet
librarians believed that in the event of an extension of e-lending, they would
spend up to 25% of their book budget on ebooks and would spend the majority of
that on the most popular titles.
·
However, the results also show that library
footfall could drop, with those who use the remote elending service less likely
to visit the library premises.
·
In terms of users, the results of the pilot
indicate that while remote e-lending may drive up usage of the service, it
would currently be from a very small, and more affluent, user base.
·
The results are of particular concern to
booksellers. This research indicates a possible reduction in the propensity to
buy new physical books and visit bookshops amongst e-book borrowers.
·
The research was inconclusive as to whether
e-book lending leads to greater e-book purchasing.
·
There is no Public Lending Right for ebooks
when borrowed remotely. All parties note that it is critically important that
authors receive fair payment each time their works are borrowed as well as on
the initial licence to the library.
·
The future development of any remote
e-lending model will have to have this principle at its core.
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