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We store books in public libraries even if they aren't public domain and authors can do nothing to prevent them from doing so.


First sale doctrine in the US. If I buy a physical book, I can give it, loan it, throw it in the trash, etc. This doesn't apply to making electronic copies--see what happened with Google Books for example.


If you buy the book, you have an authorization to do so. But you can't put copies of it.


You do if you're an archive, actually.




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