We are excited to announce the launch of the eBook Study Group, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization led by a self-assembled, largely volunteer, small group of librarians, attorneys, and library advocates from various non-profit organizations such as Library Futures, EveryLibrary, and ReadersFirst.
The model legislation was developed by Kyle K. Courtney, a copyright lawyer and librarian, and co-founder of Library Futures, which is a project of the New York University Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy.
The goal of the eBook Study Group is to firmly ground ebook contracts and licenses under state law. The language of the bills does not implicate the purview of the federal government. The bills do not include any language that requires publishers to grant a license; the language proposes an approach that does not demand that publishers license to libraries, but instead merely utilizes existing state law to make sure ebook license and contract terms are fairly balanced and are an effective use of taxpayer money.
Previous attempts at state ebooks legislation, such as the legislation at issue in Maryland, contained language requiring that publishers “shall offer” licensed ebooks to Maryland public libraries “on reasonable terms.” However, the court in Maryland stated that the “shall offer” language in the Maryland ebooks bill was preempted by federal law because it interfered with copyright owners’ exclusive right to distribute their copyrighted works.
By contrast, the model legislation developed by the eBook Study Group does not contain the “shall offer” language and instead is rooted in the purview of the state (i.e. contract law), clarifying that states are within their rights to regulate rather than mandate contracts. This approach ensures that ebook license and contract terms are balanced and fairly negotiated between publishers and libraries without infringing on the rights of copyright owners.
The eBook Study Group is a valuable initiative that helps promote fair and equitable access to ebooks for libraries and their patrons. We are grateful for the work of the volunteers who made this possible and look forward to seeing the positive impact of this legislation on library communities across the country.