Libraries own these books in their collections – shouldn’t the libraries be able to make the digital versions available to users everywhere, for free, just as the books themselves are?
Although libraries own the physical copies of these books, many of the works themselves are still protected by copyright. A copyright holder has exclusive rights under the federal Copyright Act, including the rights to reproduce the work or prepare derivative works based on the original. The exclusive rights are tempered by certain statutory exceptions, such as fair use, interlibrary loan, reproduction for use by persons with disabilities, etc., but none would allow the libraries to make whole print or digital copies for users for their free use.
