The study “The economic impact of e-lending in public libraries on the consumer book market” conducted by DIW Econ, the consulting company of the German Institute for Economic Research, suggests that e-lending harms book sales as it leads to a significant loss of sales revenue for authors, booksellers, and publishers. Collecting analytical data from over 14 thousand titles with over 30 thousand ISBNs, their findings point out that windowing – holding back e-lending in public libraries for 6-9 months – has a positive effect on book sales and print books on the consumer market. The results show that e-books are consulted more intensively in libraries and show the correlation between the socio-demographic background and the buying behaviour of library users in comparison to the overall German population. On average, e-book lending is 70% higher than printed books. This is partially because library users, as they argue, tend to have a higher income as well as a higher level of education and activity in the book market.
The sector has welcomed the positive insights that this study brings. Nina George from Network Authorsrights, Lena Falkenhagen from the German Writers’ Association, and Ingo Herzke from the Association of German-Language Translators, amongst others, highlighted the position of authors and translators in the book value chain and the stark economic impact that e-lending has on their revenue. It is hoped this study’s empirical evidence will lead to more sustainable licensing models to benefit both authors and readers.
The full study can be found here.