We should incentivize reading books not making it harder or more expensive.
- E-books should be free and of easy access.
- Writers and editors should be paid according to the popularity of their work.
The proposals are not incompatible.
They are, via public libraries.
I have two free library memberships, one offered to all residents of the state and the other from my town.
Combined, they grant me access to another DOZEN libraries in my state.
I have free access to a huge swath of the O'Reilly catalog with loan periods of 14 days, sometimes longer, available.
I've rarely waited more than a week or two to read award-winning fiction novels.
I can borrow the majority of popular magazines, ranging from junky to The Economist and New Yorker.
I get free access to the NY Times.
I get free access to a bunch of science journals.
I get free access to Lynda (now Linkedin Learning.)
I get free access to legal boilerplates.
The list goes on.
> - Writers and editors should be paid according to the popularity of their work.
By whom?
"This paragraph is sponsored by Raid Shadow Legends! Join the fight hero."
/s
Because "culture" isn't something that anyone is entitled to. It's not a human right. And because if you, joak, want to help provide culture to the poor, then you can personally spend your own time and effort producing a work of culture.
Taking a work of effort made by someone else, and giving it away for free, when that person did not consent, is theft. It has nothing to do with the "marginal cost of ebooks" - it's the fact that you don't have the right to someone else's work.
Again - if you want to provide culture to the poorest, then you can either (1) purchase a work of art from an author and give it to an individual, or (2) you can invest your own effort into creating your own work of culture.