&gt; This is a debatable proposition.<p>True enough. Though for the present purposes, it it probably sufficient to note that this reformulation is <i>not</i> fairly debatable: &quot;Creators and makers have the right to determine how and where the work they own is distributed.&quot;<p>Edit: Actually, krapht&#x27;s response led me to see that this is completely wrong. &quot;Creators and makers&quot; have robust (though not totally unlimited) legal rights to determine the conditions under which their works are <i>copied</i>, but do not have an all encompassing and well established legal right to determine how their works are distributed after the first sale.<p>Of course, the easy confusion (that I fell prey to) is that distribution often, but not always, entails copying. When it does, creators have strong legal rights. But when it does not, their rights are considerably more limited.<p>The example of libraries brings this distinction out nicely.