| Chapter 343 |
| 2026 -- S 2525 SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED Enacted 06/24/2026 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- LIBRARY EBOOK CONTRACTS |
Introduced By: Senators McKenney, Murray, LaMountain, Gallo, Urso, and Zurier |
| Date Introduced: February 13, 2026 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Title 6 of the General Laws entitled "COMMERCIAL LAW — GENERAL |
| REGULATORY PROVISIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: |
| CHAPTER 13.4 |
| LIBRARY EBOOK CONTRACTS |
| 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) PrecludePrecludes, limitlimits, or restrictrestricts the library from licensing electronic |
| literary materials from publishers; |
| (ii) PrecludePrecludes, limitlimits, or restrictrestricts the library’s ability to employ |
| technological protection measures as is necessary to loan electronic literary materials; |
| (iii) PrecludePrecludes, limitlimits, or restrictrestricts the library's right to make non- |
| public preservation copies of the electronic literary materials; |
| (iv) PrecludePrecludes, limitlimits, or restrictrestricts the library’s right to loan electronic |
| literary materials via interlibrary loan systems; or |
| (2) PrecludePrecludes, limitlimits, or restrictrestricts the library from performing |
| customary lending functions, including any provision that: |
| (i) PrecludePrecludes, limitlimits, or restrictrestricts the library from loaning electronic |
| literary materials to borrowers; |
| (ii) RestrictRestricts the library’s right to determine loan periods for licensed electronic |
| literary materials; |
| (iii) RequireRequires 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) RestrictRestricts the number of licenses for electronic literary materials that the |
| library may acquire after the same item is made available to the public; |
| (v) RequireRequires 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) RestrictRestricts 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) RestrictRestricts 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) RestrictRestricts the library from disclosing any terms of its license agreements to |
| other libraries. |
| (4) RequireRequires, coercecoerces, or enableenables 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. |
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