BILL NUMBER: S6868A
SPONSOR: CHU
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to protecting library
access to electronic literary materials
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that New York libraries can
fully provide equitable access to information and materials by making
sure that the acquisition terms for electronic library materials in
contracts between libraries and publishers are reasonable and have
comparable utility in digital form as well as in analog
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 provides definitions of "digital audiobook," "electronic
book," "electronic library material," "libraries," "aggregator," "liter-
ary monograph," "technical protection measures," "borrower," "virtual-
ly," "loan," and "loan period," as used in the act.
Subsection 2 provides any contract between publishers and libraries
shall be governed by the laws of the State. Any contract between
publishers and libraries that includes any prohibited provision shall be
deemed unenforceable and void. However, this section states the prohib-
ited provisions shall only apply to licensing agreements governing the
use of literary monographs.
Subsection 3 identifies the statues of contracts between publishers and
libraries in the state, in which these contracts shall not include
provisions that limit or restrict any library functions relating to
purchasing and loaning electronic books and materials.
Subsection 4 states any contract to purchase or license electronic
literary materials that include a prohibited provision will constitute
an unfair or deceptive act. Any actions relating to remedy or relief for
unfair or deceptive acts may be brought by libraries, library officers,
borrowers, or Attorney General.
Section 2 provides a severability clause.
Section 3 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Public libraries are central in providing equitable access to informa-
tion, books, and community programing. As technology advances, the
market has increased for digital content, which libraries have been able
to provide. E-books are particularly useful for our seniors, people with
low vision, lack of transportation, and others who may find digital
content more accessible and manageable than paper books. Moreover, the
accessibility of these E-books has shown that it expands readership,
print purchases, and introduces patrons to new authors that may not have
otherwise been exposed to.
However, some publishers are introducing practices that severely limit
libraries' ability to serve their patrons with equitable access. Plac-
ing caps on lending practices, while imposing vastly increased costs of
licensing titles to libraries, forces an unfair burden on public
libraries and limits their ability to provide the educational function
of library systems.
This discriminatory practice will restrict the ways in which public
libraries would be able to serve their patrons; many library patrons are
lower income or face barriers to other means of information access.
These restrictive lending and pricing measures will financially burden
library systems and limits their ability to provide a wider swath of
titles and digital content.
This bill establishes in statute a more equitable consumer contract
between publishers and New York's public libraries; it requires publish-
ers to offer to license e-books on more reasonable terms that are not
inflated over the same practice of sale that would be offered to a
private individual, prohibiting harmful practices that discriminate
against libraries and harm library patrons. By regulating, as opposed to
mandating, contracts between publisher and libraries, this legislation
would not encroach on issues of copyright and thereby circumvents
preemption and violations of publishers' or authors' rights.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.