Ask HN: What about an online library of e-books?

I was wondering if such a library will be desirable. There is a lot of piracy in ebooks. But what if there was a library with a fixed number of digital copies (with DRM) and anybody could checkout a copy while they are free. The app could also put adds in the book and send the proceeds directly to the authors (might add up to more than the royalty?). And one could imagine discussion thread and cross references anchored to specific parts of the book making it both more informative and more searchable. So what do you think? Is this something that could work?