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S2525AaaRights & Warranties

Commercial Law - General Regulatory Provisions - Library Ebook Contracts

This bill prevents publishers from forcing unfair e-book and digital audiobook licensing contracts on Rhode Island public libraries.

Introduced37 Yea0 Nay1 Not voting
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 13, 2026Committee Senate Education

Plain-English Summary

This bill regulates contracts between publishers and Rhode Island libraries for electronic books and digital audiobooks. It prohibits publishers from including terms that restrict libraries from performing customary functions, like interlibrary loans or determining loan periods. It prevents publishers from charging libraries more for an e-book than they charge the general public or unfairly limiting the number of times an e-book can be loaned. Violations are treated as unfair and deceptive trade practices. The law only takes effect after the Attorney General confirms at least four other states with a combined population of 10 million pass similar laws.

For younger readers

When a library wants to let people borrow electronic books (e-books) or audiobooks on their tablets, they have to buy a license from the book publishers. This bill makes rules for those publishers. It says publishers cannot charge libraries more money for an e-book than they charge a regular person. It also stops publishers from putting strict limits on how many times a library can lend out the e-book. The rules will only start working if at least four other states pass similar rules first.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Public librariesBook publishersLibrary patronsDigital aggregatorsPublic schools
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

There is a high constitutional risk regarding federal preemption under the Supremacy Clause. Publishers will likely argue that state-level regulation of e-book licensing interferes with the federal Copyright Act, which grants copyright holders exclusive rights to distribute their work. A nearly identical library e-book law in Maryland was struck down by a federal judge in 2022 for this exact reason, as it conflicted with federal copyright protections.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Ensures libraries can provide equitable access to digital books, helping low-income individuals who cannot afford to purchase e-books.
  • Protects patron privacy by strictly prohibiting publishers from forcing libraries to violate laws regarding the confidentiality of library records.
  • Prevents corporate exploitation of public funds by stopping publishers from price-gouging libraries or imposing artificial scarcity on digital materials.
  • The trigger clause delays the law's implementation until four other states pass similar laws, meaning libraries will not see immediate relief from predatory pricing.
  • Does not retroactively protect libraries, as it explicitly exempts existing contracts from these new fairness standards.
  • By relying on market-based licensing models rather than establishing a completely open public digital infrastructure, it still leaves libraries somewhat dependent on corporate publishers.
For Conservatives
  • Protects the free market in the short term by delaying the law's effective date until a multi-state threshold is met, preventing Rhode Island from becoming an isolated market.
  • Explicitly exempts existing contracts from government interference, respecting the sanctity of private agreements already in place.
  • Ensures efficient use of taxpayer money by preventing public libraries from being overcharged for digital materials compared to the general public.
  • Interferes with the free market by dictating the specific terms, pricing structures, and limits that private publishers can include in their contracts.
  • Opens publishers up to costly lawsuits and consumer protection penalties by classifying certain standard licensing practices as unfair and deceptive acts.
  • Restricts the intellectual property and distribution rights of publishers by forcing them to allow interlibrary loans and limiting their contractual freedom.

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.