CRIV CONNECTION

Jackie McCloud, Research and Instructional Services Librarian, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law 

Years of licensing e-books and audiobooks at three to five times the cost of consumer pricing, coupled with shrinking budgets, culminated in an inflection point for public libraries. The digital collections public libraries were carefully building were not sustainable, nor were they able to keep up with growing patron demand. Responding to calls that restrictive licensing agreements are undermining the mission of public libraries and draining taxpayer funded library budgets, several states began examining publisher practices and introducing legislation to restore the balance of bargaining power between public libraries and publishers, ensuring equitable access to e-books and audiobooks.   

Library Advocates Regroup After Early Setbacks

Early efforts to enact e-book legislation¹ in Maryland, New York, and several other states failed, but important lessons were learned by public libraries, advocates, and supporters.² If copyright preemption was an obstacle, states needed a different approach immune to federal preemption. E-book laws based on state contract law, state consumer protection, and state procurement law emerged as a viable approach to balance the interests of public libraries and publishers. This new strategy is championed by Library Futures and the eBook Study Group, and serves as the foundation for the model legislation that was developed by Kyle K. Courtney, a copyright lawyer, librarian, and current Executive Director of the Social Law Library. As the co-founder of Library Futures and the eBook Study Group, Courtney co-authored the foundational legal strategy and model e-books bill alongside Policy Fellow Juliya Ziskina, and continues to actively deploy this legislation across the states.

According to the eBook Study Group, the state-level model legislation aims to ensure:

• Contractual agreements between libraries and publishers contain  equitable licensing terms for the acquisition of e-books. 

• 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.³ 

Notably absent from the model legislation are any requirements that would force publishers to license e-books to public libraries, which is what ultimately doomed Maryland’s e-book law. 

States Find Success with New Strategy

Connecticut Leads on Passing E-book Legislation

Connecticut is leading the second wave of e-book legislation. After years of failed e-book bills, the Connecticut General Assembly passed its e-book law, P.A. 25-9, designed to restore its public libraries’ bargaining power by restricting a public library’s ability to agree to specific licensing terms. Governor Ned Lamont signed Connecticut’s first-in-the-nation e-book law on May 29, 2025.⁴ This law is codified at Conn. Gen. Stat. § 11-24e et seq. (eff. July 1, 2025).

Connecticut’s e-book law specifically prevents public libraries from agreeing to restrictive license terms, including:

• Restrictions on the number of times the library may loan any electronic literary material if the license also restricts the library’s loan period;  

• Limitations on the number of licenses a public library may purchase on the same date such electronic literary material is made available for purchase by the public; and 

• Restrictions on the duration of the license, unless the library has the option of a license with commercially reasonable terms in consideration of the library’s mission, which is either based on a pay-per-use model or provides perpetual use.  

Beyond addressing terms regarding equitable access, Connecticut’s e-book law also seeks to restore library functions that are essential to public libraries’ preservation mission. Public libraries are expressly prohibited from agreeing to licenses that prevent the library from lending electronic literary materials, including through interlibrary loan systems or making nonpublic preservation copies. Finally, libraries are not authorized to agree to unfair license agreements that include confidentiality provisions, non-severability provisions, arbitration provisions, or provisions that would hinder a library’s ability to comply with section 11-25.

At the same time, Connecticut’s e-book law expressly authorizes public libraries to agree to limit the number of simultaneous users as well as the library’s reasonable use of technological protection measures on digital materials.

Notably, Connecticut’s e-book law also includes a trigger clause that makes these restrictions effective when substantially similar legislation has been enacted in one or more states with an aggregate population of at least seven million people. This serves to both protect the state from potential legal exposure and incentives other states to pass similar laws.

The District of Columbia and Rhode Island Celebrate Victories in 2026

Following Connecticut’s lead, the District of Columbia and Rhode Island passed similar e-book laws in 2026. The District of Columbia  passed its e-book law, D.C. Law 26-149 § 2, eff. July 18, 2026, signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser on May 28, 2026, D.C. Act 26-327, codified at D.C. Code § 39-118 (2026). Rounding out the trio, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted its library e-book law, P.L. 2026, ch. 343, eff. June 24, 2026 (S.B.2525aa), P.L. 2026, ch. 344, eff. June 24, 2026 (H.B. 7606aa), without the signature of Governor Dan McKee, codified at R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.4 et seq. (2026).

While the e-book laws in the District of Columbia and Rhode Island contain similar provisions to Connecticut’s e-book law, there are noteworthy differences. Like Connecticut, the e-book laws passed in the District of Columbia and Rhode Island both include trigger clauses but impose different conditions that must occur before these laws will become active and enforceable. The District of Columbia e-book law requires substantially similar legislation to be enacted in ten or more states with an aggregate population equal to at least fifty million people before its statute is active and enforceable. In Rhode Island, enforcement is delayed until at least four other states enact substantially similar laws and represent a combined population of at least ten million people.⁵ 

The District of Columbia’s e-book law contains the following unique provisions:

• The District of Columbia Public Library is expressly prohibited from licensing e-books or audiobooks “at a price the Board finds to be unconscionable due to the gross disparity between the price of the electronic literary material sold or leased and the value of an electronic literary material measured by the price at which a similar electronic literary material is readily obtainable in transactions by like buyers.” 

• The District of Columbia Public Library is expressly permitted to (A) arrange or participate in events that require simultaneous access to electronic literary materials, provided restrictions apply only to such material used for the reading events, (B) provide patrons with access to a subscription-based literary platform, or (C) provide access to e-books and audiobooks via an all-access collection of materials, provided restrictions apply only to the all-access collection.

Rhode Island’s e-book law, P.L. 2026, ch. 343, eff. June 24, 2026 (S.B.2525aa), P.L. 2026, ch. 344, eff. June 24, 2026 (H.B. 7606aa), can be distinguished by several unique provisions, too. In Rhode Island, public libraries are expressly prohibited from agreeing to a license with the following restrictive provisions:

• Limits on the library’s right to set loan periods, 

• Costs that exceed the cost of the same item licensed to the public, 

• Cost-per-circulation fee per item loaned, unless substantially lower in aggregate than the cost of purchasing the item outright, and  

• Limits or restrictions on the library’s ability to virtually recite text and display artwork to library patrons such that it detracts from the educational utility of the materials.

Other States’ Bills Failed to Pass

Various e-book bills were introduced in the 2025-2026 legislative sessions in Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York.

Bills in Hawaii (S.B. No. 757 S.D.1 and H.B. No. 2577), Iowa (H.F. 466), and Minnesota (H.F. No. 3698 and S.F. No. 3685) failed to pass before the state legislatures adjourned. These states begin new biennial legislative sessions in 2027, providing another opportunity to join Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and Rhode Island in passing e-book legislation.

The New York State Legislature entered its annual extended recess of June 6, 2026, for the remainder of the second regular session, without advancing A3589, A9625B, or S9339.

Similarly, the Massachusetts Legislature ended its formal legislative session on July 31, 2026, and entered its informal session for the duration of the second regular session without further action being taken  on H.3595, S.2330, or S.2710.

Efforts Are Underway in Illinois and New Jersey

The Illinois General Assembly is on the path to pass its e-book  bill, HB5236, 104th Gen. Assem., 2nd Reg. Sess. (Ill. 2025). On April 17, 2026, the Illinois House of Representatives passed HB5236 with a 99-0 vote, and the bill was transferred to the Illinois Senate with its first reading and referral to the Senate Assignments Committee on April 21, 2026. The Illinois legislature ended its spring session on May 31, 2026, but reconvenes later this year for its veto session,  providing  another opportunity to pass H.B. 5236.

The 222nd New Jersey Legislature (2026-2027) convened on January 13, 2026. Since the new legislative session began, two e-book bills have been introduced: A4956 and S1674. It is still early in the 222nd legislative session and librarians, advocates and supporters are hopeful that the legislature will support public libraries and pass A4956 and S1674.

Conclusion

E-book legislation is gaining momentum in the states under this new strategy. Since 2025, e-book legislation has been introduced in nine states and the District of Colombia. Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia successfully enacted legislation during the 2025-2026 legislative session and are now waiting for other states to join them in passing similar legislation. It is possible that Illinois or New Jersey will be the next state to enact an e-book law.

Notably, the 2020 Decennial Census reports the total population of Illinois is 12,812,508 and New Jersey is 9,288,994,  which combined  provide a total aggregate population exceeding 22 million people. If either Illinois or New Jersey enact e-book legislation, Connecticut’s e-book law will be triggered and enforceable. If both Illinois and New Jersey enact e-book legislation, Rhode Island’s e-book law⁶ will be triggered and enforceable.

These early victories demonstrate that states support the mission of public libraries to provide equitable access to information and to sustain and preserve library collections for future generations.

Read More About the Issue

• ALA Advocacy & Issues, E-books 
• Authors Alliance  
• eBook Study Group 
• EveryLibrary Institute 
• Library Futures 
• Readers First  

1. Kyle K. Courtney & Juliya Ziskina, Library Futures eBooks Policy Paper: Mitigating the Library eBook Conundrum Through Legislative Action in the States (June 2022). 

2. Kyle K. Courtney & Juliya Ziskina, The Publisher Playbook: A Brief History of the Publishing Industry’s Obstruction of the Library Mission (2023) (pre-print version). 

3. ALA, Leading Public Library Groups Call for E-book Action, May 26, 2026. 

4. Urban Libraries Council, Messaging the E-books Crisis: A Communications Toolkit for ULC Libraries, June 2026.

5. Alan S. Inouye, Towards an Equilibrium for Library Access to Digital Books, Library Journal (June 22, 2026). 

6. The eBook Study Group (Kyle K. Courtney, Juliya Ziskina, Heather Joseph, Meikle Hall, Tucky Taylor, and John Chrastka), Moving Beyond the Publisher Playbook: Why State-Level Contract Law Is Sssential to the Future of Digital Library Rights, Library Journal (July 29, 2026).

Footnotes

1. References to e-book legislation, e-book bills, and e-book laws include both e-books and audiobooks and will be used for ease of reference.
2. Jackie McCloud, “It’s Time to Legislate for Library Access to E-Books,” 45 CRIV Sheet, no. 1, at 9–11 (Nov. 2022).
3. Solving the eBook Problem State by State, eBook Study Group (emphasis in original).
4. See Press Release, Connecticut Library Consortium, Connecticut Libraries Applaud State House and Senate Passage of E-Book Legislation, Urge Governor Lamont’s Signature (May 15, 2025), .
5. R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.4-3(a)(3) (2026).
6. R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 6-13.4-1 to -6 (2026); 2026 R.I. Pub. Laws chs. 343, 344 (S.B. 2525aa, H.B. 7606aa), effective June 24, 2026.