Fuller Rebuttal of So-Called "Study"

On September 3, ReadersFirst noted a significant flaw in the data in the AAP and Authors Guild commissioned study on the impact of library eBooks and eAudiobooks on the retail market.

Garbage in, garbage out. The study is undermined by flawed data.

One might leave it at that, but other problems in it require further examination. That examination is ably undertaken in a joint statement from eBook Study Group, Readers First (yes, members of our group contributed), Authors Alliance, SPARC, and the Rhode Island Library Association.

We encourage all who care about the present and future of library ebooks to read the rebuttal.

We invite publishers to engage in dialogue to discuss terms that would avoid the need for legislation. We thank the many publishers who already offer reasonable terms for licensing and even buying digital content. If the large corporate-owned publishers hold steadfast to their unreasonable terms, then libraries, their readers, and their supporting legislators have few courses of action to redress decades of unfairness. We must seize upon one that has at least some chance of leading to negotiation.