Briet’s Ownership Revolution: Centering the Authorial Voice in the Library E-Book Battle
The digital book landscape for libraries has long been defined by contention, characterized by the revolving door of expensive, time-limited licensing agreements that compromise collection development and permanence. As of late 2025, the industry faces renewed pressure, underscored by major market shifts, such as ProQuest’s move away from perpetual e-book sales toward a subscription-based model for scholarly titles, which reinforces the prevalence of leasing over owning. In direct response to this “crisis in e-book licensing,” the startup Briet has emerged as a provocative alternative. Launched by The Brick House Cooperative and the Flaming Hydra collective, Briet’s fundamental proposition is to revolutionize this market by facilitating the outright sale—not licensing—of e-books to libraries and schools, ensuring perpetual, ownable, and archivable digital copies. This structure seeks to replicate the “old-fashioned hard-copy libraries” model digitally, where a purchase grants permanent rights to the purchasing institution. The ambition of this platform extends far beyond transactional mechanics; it is deeply rooted in philosophical questions concerning the author’s role, collection diversity, and the very definition of digital property in the modern economy.
The Authorial Voice in the Ownership Debate
The conversation surrounding e-book acquisition models has historically been dominated by the financial leverage of major publishers and the operational needs of library systems. However, advocates for Briet are forcefully repositioning the author’s perspective as a vital, and often marginalized, component of this complex debate. This emphasis on the creator’s long-term interests is central to Briet’s advocacy framework.
Shedding Light on Hidden Contractual Constraints Affecting Authors
A core revelation being championed by those aligned with Briet is the pervasive lack of awareness among writers regarding the specific, often restrictive, terms governing their digital works. It is frequently asserted that authors, particularly those whose careers were nurtured through access to public libraries, may not fully grasp the legal reality embedded in prevailing licensing agreements. Under these current structures, digital books are legally barred from being permanently “sold” to an institution; instead, the transaction is functionally a fleeting lease, a reality that sharply contrasts with the enduring presence of their physical counterparts on library shelves. This structural opacity surrounding the digital lifespan and true ownership status of their creations is being framed as a significant failure within the established commercial relationship between authors, publishers, and libraries <cite: 1}.
Maria Bustillos, cofounder of Flaming Hydra and instrumental in Briet’s construction, has articulated this concern forcefully, noting that many writers do not realize their digital books “cannot be sold” due to existing Digital Rights Management (DRM) agreements <cite: 1, 3}. This realization, proponents argue, directly impacts the author’s legacy and their relationship with their most dedicated readership base—the library patrons who depend on perpetual access.
A Call to Action for Writers to Demand Contractual Transparency
This illumination of hidden constraints translates directly into a potent, direct appeal to writers themselves. Advocates suggest that any author who values the foundational role libraries played in their development should be strongly motivated to demand a shift in commercial practice once they comprehend the limitations imposed on their digital output’s perpetual availability <cite: 1, 3}. The message is a clear directive for creators to integrate demands for contractual transparency and ownership-friendly clauses into their future agreements <cite: 1}. The objective is to safeguard their artistic legacy and the public’s enduring access to it from being unilaterally dictated by restrictive licensing terms designed primarily for short-term revenue maximization rather than long-term cultural preservation <cite: 1, 4}. The platform’s early adopters, such as PM Press, vocally support this ethos, believing that once a library purchases a book, they should be able to circulate it “hundreds if not thousands of times” because the ultimate goal is readership <cite: 2}.
Implications for Collection Diversity and Discovery
The structural change proposed by Briet—shifting from leasing to ownership—carries profound implications that extend well beyond mere financial transactions. It promises to fundamentally enrich the diversity and quality of library collections by recalibrating the economic incentives for acquiring specific types of titles <cite: 1}.
Highlighting Underrepresented Voices Beyond Mainstream Best Seller Lists
A frequently noted advantage of the inventory curated through the Briet marketplace is its notable quality and intrinsic diversity. The collection is reported to feature a significant concentration of works by authors who may not consistently appear on the lists generated by the largest, most heavily marketed trade publishers <cite: 1, 3}. By creating an alternative, ownership-focused marketplace, Briet actively encourages smaller presses and independent creators to participate directly <cite: 1}. This participation enriches the overall library offering with unique perspectives, experimental literature, and voices that might otherwise be eclipsed in the mass-market digital acquisition pipelines governed by major distributors <cite: 1}. This direct patronage mechanism helps libraries more effectively fulfill their core mission: serving the entirety of their varied communities with a broad, inclusive spectrum of thought and literature <cite: 1}.
Navigating the Landscape of Digital Rights Management
The entire discourse surrounding library e-content acquisition is inextricably linked to Digital Rights Management (DRM), the primary technical enforcement mechanism for restrictive licensing models. Briet’s existence and philosophy stand as an implicit challenge to the necessity and utility of these digital locks, particularly in the context of institutional purchases <cite: 1}.
The Advantage of DRM-Free Offerings from Participating Publishers
A crucial element contributing to Briet’s foundational strength is the alignment with publishers who have either already adopted or maintained a commitment to DRM-free practices for their digital output <cite: 1, 4}. For these contributors, the transition to the Briet ownership model is virtually seamless, as the core product—a file unencumbered by restrictive digital locks—already satisfies the platform’s end goal of permanent ownership and archival usability <cite: 1}. The presence of these DRM-free titles forms a vital early backbone for the platform, demonstrating that significant literary works can circulate effectively without intrusive access controls <cite: 1}. This reality reinforces the argument, often made by library advocates, that DRM functions primarily as a commercial tool for control rather than an essential security measure for library lending <cite: 1}. While the system is designed for ownership, its architects acknowledge the industry’s current needs, with Maria Bustillos indicating that in the finished version, the platform can offer LCP (Licensed Content Protection) encryption to those libraries that require it, illustrating a commitment to interoperability with existing library systems like Libby and The Palace Project via OPDS feeds, though the core is ownership <cite: 3, 4}.
Forecasting the Future Trajectory of Library E-Content Acquisition
The emergence of a viable, ownership-focused disruption like Briet compels a necessary re-evaluation of the digital book market’s direction and the sustainability of legacy licensing models <cite: 1}. As of mid-to-late 2025, the tension between preservation and profit maximization is defining the next phase of this industry evolution <cite: 1}.
Anticipating Industry Response to the Sell-Not-License Movement
The successful adoption of the Briet model by even a limited segment of the publishing industry is projected to provoke a reaction from larger, more entrenched distributors and publishers who benefit significantly from the existing licensing structure <cite: 1}. The continued evolution of this narrative hinges on observing the major players’ reactions: Will they strategically adjust their licensing terms—perhaps offering extended license periods or reduced perpetual renewal costs—to preempt a full migration of content toward ownership models? <cite: 1}
Alternatively, they may opt to reinforce current licensing restrictions, thereby widening the gulf between the content available through traditional vendors and the curated, owned collections offered by platforms like Briet <cite: 1}. This tension is playing out against a backdrop where, in the first half of 2025, while total trade book sales dipped slightly, e-book sales showed modest growth of 1.8% year-over-year, amounting to $2.11 billion for the period <cite: 7}. Meanwhile, digital audiobooks continue to outpace e-books in growth, suggesting consumers are exploring digital alternatives, but the ownership question for libraries remains central <cite: 2, 7}.
The Broader Significance for Digital Ownership Rights Across Sectors
Briet’s ambition is not narrowly confined to library e-book procurement; it functions as a microcosm of the far larger, ongoing societal debate surrounding digital ownership rights in the twenty-first century <cite: 1}. The central question it forces is this: If an institution dedicated fundamentally to public access and long-term preservation cannot secure clear, permanent ownership over a purchased digital good, what does that imply for all digital purchases made by consumers, governmental bodies, and other cultural archives? <cite: 1}
The potential for Briet to establish a functional precedent—a demonstration where an institutional purchase irrevocably equals ownership—could initiate a significant ripple effect <cite: 1}. This success could empower consumers to demand similar rights for their personal e-book collections, ultimately influencing the entire architecture of digital commerce and rights management across various media formats <cite: 1}. Briet, therefore, is positioned not merely as a transactional platform, but as a critical proving ground for defining the nature of digital property in the contemporary economy <cite: 1, 4}. The platform explicitly champions Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) as the mechanism through which libraries can leverage their purchased, owned files to serve patrons, reinforcing the principle of “lend like print” <cite: 4}.
