The Lease Trap

Renting (e.g. a movie) can be a useful option to increase access and lower upfront costs.

However, it's problematic when a product or service is offered exclusively as a lease, such that it exploits customers or strips them of rights essential to intended use, preservation, or civic value.

Leasing should not be used as a tool to capture markets and evade legal protections or societal responsibilities.

Here are 3 examples.

Example 1: First Sale Rights

The right of First Sale (i.e. the First Sale Doctrine 17 U.S.C. § 109) is what gives Americans the right to buy a book, lend it to a friend, and sell it after they're done.

Publishers bypass this by only offering ebook leases that you license "perpetually" and don't own (your Amazon ebooks included).

Example 2: Evasion of the Public Domain.

17 U.S.C. § 302–305 sets a limit on copyright. But there is no requirement for publishers to release DRM-free version of lease-only material in a way that can enter the public domain. And breaking DRM is illegal via 17 U.S.C. § 1201.

Example 3: The end of preservation

17 U.S.C. § 108 gives libraries the right to make archival versions to preserve the media they own. If a library or archive can't own the material, they can't preserve it or enable access to those with disabilities.

In conclusion, leasing can expand access, but it should never be the only option.

For copyright law to function as intended, there must also be a path to true ownership — even if time-limited — that restores the public’s ability to exercise rights like First Sale and preserve works under §108.

I'm not a lawyer, I am speaking for myself, etc, etc.