2024 -- S 2514

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS --

UNFAIR SALES PRACTICES

     Introduced By: Senators Gu, Lawson, McKenney, DiPalma, and Bissaillon

     Date Introduced: March 01, 2024

     Referred To: Senate Education

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 6-13 of the General Laws entitled "Unfair Sales Practices" is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following section:

     6-13-22. Ebook contracts between libraries and publishers.

     (a) Definitions.

     For purposes of this section:

     (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" include:

     (i) Public libraries;

     (ii) Public elementary school or secondary school libraries;

     (iii) Tribal libraries;

     (iv) Academic libraries;

     (v) Research libraries;

     (vi) Special libraries;

     (vii) Consortial library systems;

     (viii) Talking book libraries; and

     (ix) Archives.

     (7) "Literary monograph" means a literary work that is published in one volume or a finite

number of volumes.

     (8) "Loan" means 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,

but not limited to, 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 section, 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 provided in subsection

(b)(2) of this section 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.

     (b) Contracts between libraries and publishers.

     (1) Any contract between a publisher and a library to license electronic literary materials

to the public in this state is governed by Rhode Island law.

     (2) No contract or license agreement between any publisher and any library entered into

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shall:

     (i) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library from performing customary operational functions,

including any provision that:

     (A) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library from licensing electronic literary materials from

publishers;

     (B) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library's ability to employ technological protection

measures as is necessary to loan electronic literary materials;

     (C) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library's right to make non-public preservation copies of

the electronic literary materials;

     (D) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library's right to loan electronic literary materials via

interlibrary loan systems.

     (ii) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library from performing customary lending functions,

including any provision that:

     (A) Preclude, limit, or restrict the library from loaning electronic literary materials to

borrowers;

     (B) Restrict the library's right to determine loan periods for licensed electronic literary

materials;

     (C) 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;

     (D) Restrict the number of licenses for electronic literary materials that the library may

acquire after the same item is made available to the public;

     (E) 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;

     (F) 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;

     (G) 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.

     (iii) Restrict the library from disclosing any terms of its license agreements to other

libraries.

     (iv) Require, coerce, or enable the library to violate the law protecting the confidentiality

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of a patron's library records found in § 11-18-32.

     (c) Remedies - Unfair and deceptive acts or practices.

     (1) Offers to license electronic literary materials to a library that include a prohibited

provision listed in subsection (b)(2) of this section constitute unfair methods of competition and

unfair or deceptive acts or practices within the meaning of § 6-13.1-2.

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

enforcement of this section.

     (3) Actions for relief pursuant to this section may be brought by libraries, library officers,

or borrowers or, pursuant to § 6-13-6, may be brought by the attorney general.

     (4) Parties shall be enjoined from enforcing license agreements that include a prohibited

provision listed in subsection (b)(2) of this section.

     (d) Unconscionability.

     (1) Contracts to license electronic literary materials to a library that include prohibited

provisions listed in subsection (b)(2) of this section 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.

     (e) Severability. The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act 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.

     (f) Existing contracts. Nothing in this section 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 passage and shall apply to transactions entered

into and events occurring after such date.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS --

UNFAIR SALES PRACTICES

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     This act would provide for the legal governance of licensed electronic literacy materials.

     This act would take effect upon passage and would apply to transactions entered into and

events occurring after such date.

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