# Do you feel guilty about using a library? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 5, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144 "2023-10-05T14:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144/61 "2023-10-06T13:54:49Z")
I think Amazon has done far more harm to writers’ incomes and the publishing industry than libraries. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144/62 "2023-10-06T13:58:04Z")
Well, there is the ‘Penelopiad’ by Margaret Atwood… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144/63 "2023-10-06T22:28:10Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Just because your answer is “no” does not make it a bizarre question. But it sorta is, and here’s why: it takes the position that the library is just a way to dodge paying for the latest bestseller, instead of the original concept of a free repository of knowledge and ideas from across history. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2023, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144/64 "2023-10-08T07:03:23Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > If libraries were invented today, they would almost certainly be illegal. Theft of intellectual property!! ??? Even in the mindset of today, I don’t see how that works. The “library” concept in terms of today’s digital technology would be, I dunno, a publicly available screen where people are allowed to look at legally obtained copies of content. It’s not “theft of intellectual property” if you lend somebody your Kindle so they can read (the legally obtained copy of) the new e-book you’ve been raving about, so it’s not theft of intellectual property if a library lends its users legally obtained copies of published works, whether in paper or digital form. (I may have been whooshed here, not sure.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2023, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144/65 "2023-10-08T08:12:05Z")
I’m sure the publishing industry would make it illegal to lend your Kindle if they could. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2023, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144/66 "2023-10-08T08:15:20Z")
Dunno. I mean, publishers can indeed be massive jerks, but they have accountants, and accountants are at least as aware as authors are when it comes to understanding that a certain amount of free access to published material boosts sales and profits in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2023, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144/67 "2023-10-08T09:00:53Z")
Authors are given the gift of copyright enforcement because it’s considered beneficial to all as encouragement for authors to write. If they aren’t willing to allow their books to be read in public libraries, or given from one person to another, we can take away the copyrights because we aren’t getting the benefit from them we deserve. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-guilty-about-using-a-library/991144.md?page=3)