Access to information is a fundamental right, and libraries play a critical role in providing equitable access to literary materials. However, the restrictions placed on libraries accessing digital content have posed a challenge for libraries in acquiring and providing access to ebooks, as publishers often impose restrictive licensing and contractual terms.

That’s where the eBooks Study Group's model state legislation comes in.

This model legislation was developed by Kyle K. Courtney, a copyright lawyer and librarian, and co-founder of Library Futures. 

The purpose of the model bills is to support libraries in fulfilling their mission of providing broad and equitable access to information for all by ensuring that licensing and contractual agreements between libraries and publishers contain equitable terms. 

The model bill is grounded in state consumer protection, contract law, procurement, and contract preemption.  

The states have always had the ability to regulate markets. And, because libraries have a forward-facing mission in service of the public, state legislatures are within their power to pass a law aiding that mission through the use of existing state law. 

The model legislation aims to ensure:

• Contractual agreements between libraries and publishers contain equitable licensing terms for the acquisition of ebooks.
• Literary materials have at least the same utility in digital form as they have in analog form.
• No contract requires, coerces, or enables the library to violate the law protecting the confidentiality of a patron’s library records.
• The availability of remedies: The ability of a court to rule that a contract (or provision of a contract) is “unconscionable” or an “unfair trade practice” and therefore unenforceable.

The full text of the model bill can be found here. 

These bills would:

• Put all libraries in a position to negotiate better terms;
• Preempt restrictive terms that would be unacceptable in a physical book context; and
• Control the untenable costs of providing access to ebooks for communities.

What these bills are not:

• The same legislative attempts that were struck down in Maryland and New York in 2022. 
• Encroaching on copyright. They do not mandate contracts between publishers and libraries or force publishers to sell to libraries. Instead, they regulate the terms of those contracts.
• A violation of publishers' or authors’ rights. Publishers, like any business, are subject to the laws of the state in which they do business. Authors are still compensated according to the terms of their publisher contracts.

Please see the Questions & Misconceptions page for a more detailed discussion of these points.