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H7606AaaRights & Warranties

Commercial Law - General Regulatory Provisions - Library Ebook Contracts

This bill prevents publishers from placing certain pricing and lending restrictions on libraries that license e-books and digital audiobooks.

Introduced69 Yea0 Nay6 Not voting
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 11, 2026Committee House Corporations

Plain-English Summary

This bill regulates contracts between libraries and publishers for electronic books and digital audiobooks. It prohibits publishers from enforcing certain restrictions on libraries, such as limiting the number of licenses a library can buy, charging libraries more than the general public for a license, or restricting interlibrary loans. It also prevents publishers from forcing libraries to violate patron privacy laws or keeping contract terms secret from other libraries. Violations of these rules are considered unfair and deceptive business practices. The law will only be enforced once four other states pass similar legislation.

For younger readers

When a library wants to let people borrow electronic books (e-books) or audiobooks, they have to buy a special permission called a license from the book publishers. This bill makes rules for the contracts between libraries and publishers. It stops publishers from charging libraries more money than regular people for the same e-book. It also stops publishers from limiting how many e-books a library can buy or preventing libraries from sharing with other libraries. If publishers break these rules, they can get in trouble, but this only starts if four other states make similar rules first.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
LibrariesBook publishersE-book aggregatorsLibrary patronsAuthors
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

Moderate risk

Moderate risk. By dictating the terms, pricing, and distribution limits of copyrighted digital works, the bill may violate the Supremacy Clause. Copyright law is a strictly federal domain under the U.S. Copyright Act, which grants exclusive rights to authors and publishers. Similar state laws attempting to regulate library e-book contracts (such as in Maryland and New York) have previously been struck down or vetoed due to federal preemption concerns regarding copyright.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Protects public libraries from price gouging by corporate publishers, ensuring equitable access to digital books and educational materials for all residents regardless of income.
  • Safeguards patron privacy by explicitly prohibiting publishers from forcing libraries to violate state laws that protect confidential library records and borrower information.
  • Empowers libraries to share resources through interlibrary loans and virtual storytimes, strengthening community welfare and expanding the reach of public services.
  • Delays enforcement until at least four other states with a combined population of ten million pass similar laws, leaving Rhode Island libraries unprotected in the interim.
  • Exempts existing contracts from the new regulations, allowing current restrictive or expensive licensing agreements to persist until they expire.
  • Relies on the Attorney General to track other states' legislation and publish a formal notice before taking effect, creating a bureaucratic hurdle to implementation.
For Conservatives
  • Ensures responsible use of taxpayer funds by preventing publishers from charging publicly funded libraries more for an e-book license than the general public pays.
  • Promotes transparency and fair negotiation by preventing publishers from forcing libraries to keep their licensing contract terms secret from other libraries.
  • Grandfathers existing contracts, respecting the rule of law and the sanctity of prior business agreements already in force.
  • Interferes with the free market by dictating the specific terms, pricing structures, and conditions under which private publishers can license their intellectual property.
  • Exposes publishers to legal action and penalties under consumer protection laws simply for offering standard commercial licensing agreements to libraries.
  • Links Rhode Island's legal enforcement to the legislative actions of other states, potentially compromising state sovereignty over its own commercial regulations.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

3 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 103 additions

SECTION 1. Title 6 of the General Laws entitled "COMMERCIAL LAW — GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 6-13.4-1. Definitions. As used in this chapter:

(1) “Aggregator” means one whose business is the licensing of access to electronic literary material collections that include electronic literary material from multiple publishers;

(2) “Borrower” means a person or organization, including another library, to whom the library loans electronic literary materials of any sort;

(3) “Digital audiobook” means a published work that is in the form of a voice recording

(narrated) and is released as a digital audio file;

(4) “Electronic book” means a published work that is in written form and is released as a digital text file;

(5) “Electronic literary materials” means digital audiobooks and/or electronic books;

(6) “Libraries” or “Library” means any library, library system, or library consortium that serves the public or receives public funds from the State of Rhode Island or any political subdivision thereof. This includes, but is not limited to, public libraries; public elementary and secondary school libraries; tribal libraries; publicly supported academic and research libraries; special libraries that serve the public; library consortia administering public funds; talking book libraries; and archives.

(7) “Literary monograph” means a literary work that is published in one volume or a finite number of volumes;

(8) “Loan” means to create and transmit to a borrower a copy of electronic literary material and delete it at the end of the loan period;

(9) “Loan period” means the time between the transmission of electronic literary material to a borrower and the copies’ deletion, as determined by any individual library.

(10) “Portable electronic device” means any self-contained electronic device for personal use for communicating, reading, viewing, listening, playing video games, or computing, including a mobile telephone, tablet computer, electronic book reader, and other similar devices;

(11) “Publisher" means one whose business is the manufacture, promulgation, license, and/or sale of books, audiobooks, journals, magazines, newspapers, or other literary productions including those in the form of electronic literary materials. For the purposes of this chapter the term “publisher” shall also include aggregators who enter into contracts with libraries for the purposes of providing materials for purchase or license from the publishers;

(12) “Reasonable terms” means purchase or licensing specifications listed in § 6-13.4-2(b) that consider a publisher's business model as well as a library's need to continue its mission to provide access to materials and the efficient use of funds in providing library services.

(13) “Technological protection measures” means any technology that ensures the secure loaning and/or circulation by a library of electronic literary materials;

(14) “Virtually” means transmitted to receiving parties via the Internet in such a way that the transmission appears in front of the receiving parties on a computer, tablet, smart phone, or electronic device. 6-13.4-2. Contracts between libraries and publishers.

(a) Any contract between a publisher or aggregator and a library to license electronic literary materials to the public in this state shall be governed by Rhode Island law.

(b) No contract or license agreement between any publisher and any library shall:

(1) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library from performing customary operational functions, including any provision that:

(i) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library from licensing electronic literary materials from publishers;

(ii) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library’s ability to employ technological protection measures as is necessary to loan electronic literary materials;

(iii) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library's right to make non-public preservation copies of the electronic literary materials;

(iv) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library’s right to loan electronic literary materials via interlibrary loan systems; or

(2) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library from performing customary lending functions, including any provision that:

(i) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library from loaning electronic literary materials to borrowers;

(ii) Restrict the library’s right to determine loan periods for licensed electronic literary materials;

(iii) Require the library to acquire a license for any electronic literary material at a price greater than that charged to the public for the same item;

(iv) Restrict the number of licenses for electronic literary materials that the library may acquire after the same item is made available to the public;

(v) Require the library to pay a cost-per-circulation fee to loan electronic literary materials, unless substantially lower in aggregate than the cost of purchasing the item outright;

(vi) Restrict the total number of times a library may loan any licensed electronic literary materials over the course of any license agreement, or restricts the duration of any license agreement; unless the publisher also offers a license agreement to libraries for perpetual public use without such restrictions, at a price which is considered reasonable and equitable as agreed to by both parties; or

(vii) Restrict or limits the library’s ability to virtually recite text and display artwork of any materials to library patrons such that the materials would not have the same educational utility as when recited or displayed at a library facility.

(3) Restrict the library from disclosing any terms of its license agreements to other libraries.

(4) Require, coerce, or enable the library to violate the law protecting the confidentiality of a patron’s library records found in § 11-18-32. 6-13.4-3. Remedies.

(a) Unfair and deceptive acts or practices shall include:

(1) Offers to license electronic literary materials to a library that include a prohibited provision set forth in § 6-13.4-2(b) constitute unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices as defined in § 6-13.1-1.

(2) Any remedy provided pursuant to §§ 6-13.1-8 and 6-13.1-14 shall be available for the enforcement of this chapter.

(3) Actions for relief pursuant to this chapter may be brought by libraries, library officers, or borrowers, or, pursuant to § 6-13-6, by the attorney general. Enforcement of the provisions of this chapter shall be delayed until the attorney general determines and publishes notice that at least four (4) other states have enacted laws that establish enforceable limitations on contract terms for the licensing of electronic books or digital audiobooks to libraries that are substantially similar in purpose to this chapter, and that those states collectively represent a combined population of at least ten million (10,000,000) persons, as determined by the most recent United States decennial census.

(4) Parties shall be enjoined from enforcing license agreements that include a prohibited provision set forth in § 6-13.4-2(b).

(b) Contracts to license electronic literary materials to a library that include prohibited provisions set forth in § 6-13.4-2(b) are unconscionable within the meaning of § 6A-2-302 in violation of Rhode Island law and public policy and are deemed unenforceable. Any waiver of the provisions of this title is contrary to public policy and shall be deemed unenforceable and void. 6-13.4-4. Severability. The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. 6-13.4-5. Existing contracts. Nothing in this chapter affects existing contracts that are currently in force providing libraries with electronic literary products from vendors and aggregators.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon the publication of notice by the attorney general that at least four (4) other states have enacted laws that establish enforceable limitations on contract terms for the licensing of electronic books or digital audiobooks to libraries that are substantially similar in purpose to this act, and that those states collectively represent a combined population of at least ten million (10,000,000) persons, as determined by the most recent United States decennial census.