Recorded Books and NetLibrary are in a legal battle—with lawsuits alleging such transgressions as breach of contract, violation of copyright, unfair competition, and defamation. See LibraryJournal articles here and here and court records.
Claim from Recorded Books: Despite an exclusive contract with NetLibrary, the library service started offering other publishers’ e-audiobooks. Recorded Books warns it may remove its audio books from NetLibrary.
Question: What does the battle mean for libraries’ “collections” of e-books and audio books alike? It’s not the most reassuring news when legal problems might suddenly threaten patrons’ continued access to content. Could it be that Recorded Books will hurt the cause of companies that want libraries to rent rather than own?
And speaking of business models: Posts from if:book and Peter Brantley on the how iPhone-style reading devices and related Net services could affect publishers and libraries. Not to mention the public. Under the e-book museum approach, you just might be charged whenever you cracked open an e-book (unless your flat-rate subscription plan covered everything). And you wouldn’t own your private” library.”
