Libraries have historically been society’s great equalizer, providing free access to knowledge to all citizens, regardless of their ability to pay, education, identity, or physical ability. But today libraries are being challenged: as we transition from physical media to digital, the rights of libraries to provide digital access to information and preserve materials for the future is under attack.

Proprietary publishers do not respect the balance provided by copyright law, as they refuse to sell ebooks and audiobooks to libraries, sue to halt the common library practice of controlled digital lending, and charge exorbitant prices for eBooks and eresources in the education, health services, and public library markets. This is affecting researchers and our economy in turn, as access to digital material has ironically become more difficult than access to the analogue.

In the face of these attacks, the rights of libraries in the digital age must be championed, communicated, and defended. We are coming together to rethink copyright and help usher in a sustainable future for libraries. Unfair licensing terms and a lack of clarity in digital copyright law to protect the public could spell the end of libraries as they have existed for millennia. We can and should do more.

What we believe:

• Copyright must be updated for the digital age and exceptions and limitations must be made for libraries to best serve the public
• We must achieve ideal, universal access to knowledge for all patrons regardless of socioeconomic status, identity, or ability
• Controlled Digital Lending and other innovative lending practices should be legally protected
• Libraries have a responsibility to advocate for policies that will affect their communities
• Digital first sale, the principle of exhaustion in intellectual property law, and ownership of digital objects is the only way to ensure full access to information by libraries and cultural institutions
• Licensing has created a pervasive market failure that must be investigated by regulators and governments to ensure that the public has access to relevant, timely, published information to support education, research and economic growth
• Digital enclosures hurt us all. The market must be corrected by smart policy, limitations and exceptions, and a community approach that respects the right to lend

Individuals or Institutions

If you share our principles, we invite you to sign this statement by completing the form below.

Institutions:‍

• Library Futures Institute
• #ebookSOS
• Knowledge Rights 21
• Milton Public Library
• Hamilton Public Library
• International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
• Public Knowledge
• Open Education Global
• Bath College UK
• Varndean College
• Guildhall School of Music & Drama
• South African Library for the Blind
• CILIP
• Creative Commons‍
• Johns Hopkins University
• Internet Archive
• Knowledge Ecology International
• Fight for the Future
• Tohatoha Aotearoa Commons
• University of Worcester, UK
• LIBER
• Scottish Library and Information Council
• East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure
• ANGUSalive
• Sonoma County Library
• Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School
• University of Sheffield Library
• Authors Alliance
• The Itinerant Poetry Library
• Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)
• Slovenian Library Association
• Research Libraries UK
• Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance (LACA)
• Imperial College Library (UK)
• Queen’s University Library (Canada)
• Ottawa Public Library (Canada)
• Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) (UK)
• The Evergreen State College Library
• CONZUL (Council of New Zealand University Librarians)
• University of Gloucestershire (UK)
• Sudan Art and Design Library
• CW/MARS Library Consortium
• Midlothian Library ServiceCoalition for Creativity
• Association for Learning Technology
• The Rebus Foundation
• Western University Libraries
• Special Libraries Association (SLA)
• PressBooks
• Consortium of National & University Libraries (Ireland)
• Access 2 Perspectives
• AfricArXiv
• Library Association of Ireland (LAI)
• Irish Universities Association Librarians’ Group (IUALG)

Individuals

• Brian Zisk
• Matthew Lane
• Ashley Directo
• Vito Montesano
• Caroline Ball, University of Derby
• Shea Swauger, Auraria Library
• Wendolyn Vermeer
• Professor Charles Oppenheim
• Steacy Johnson
• Ann Archer
• Elsa Valente
• Morgan Dalton
• Carly Anderson, Milton Public Library
• Laura Crossett
• Mark Lindner
• Millie Gonzalez
• Tom Blake
• Danny O’Brien
• Adam Robinson
• Rachel Bickley
• Alana Bardill
• Heather Cripps, University of Derby
• David Richardson, University of Derby
• Emily Downes
• Chrissie Ley Hughes, Bangor University
• Eduard Jacob, IFLA, KNVI, ISKO-UK
• Liz White, Staffordshire University
• Stevie Russell
• Katrina Hall
• Eliane Vicente Tsarouhis
• Joanna Cooksey, Oxford Brookes University
• Philip Adams
• Mark Adcock, University of Leeds
• Denise Nicholson, Scholarly Horizons
• Jane Daniels
• Dr, Robert Curry, Oxford Brookes University
• Louisa Suen, Law Library, Hong Kong
• Alexandra Marshall, University of Derby
• Dean Brown, University of Salford
• Sarah Foley
• Rachel Oldridge, University of Bedfordshire
• Hope Williard, University of Lincoln
• Sally Frost
• Gill Walker
• Pako Dick, Ratsie Setlhako Primary School
• Louise Koch, MMU
• Abigail Chapman
• Helen Rhodes, University of Bath
• Maria Bustillos, Brick House Cooperative
• Debbie Howe, University of Leeds
• Rachel Proudfoot
• Sarah Hammond, Askham Bryan College
• RBramley, University of Sussex
• Amanda Cook, De Montfort University
• Jayne Kellyj, University of Cambridge
• Andrew McAinsh, University of Strathclyde
• Dave Hook, Milton Public Library
• Doug Broadbent-Yale, University of East Anglia (UEA), UK
• Hao Ye
• Amy Wheeldon
• Holly Limbert
• Rosalind Francis
• Rachael Giles, Harper Adams University
• Eva Dann
• Rebecca Frerotte
• Rebecca Morin, Worcester Art Museum
• Kay Ecclestone
• Michael L Blackwell, St. Mary’s County Library (MD)
• Jennifer Finkle
• Laura Woods
• Jo Lapham
• Shanna Hollich
• Bukola James, Kwara State University Malete
• Victoria Sokari
• Ramatu A Haliru
• Shahnila Shafiq
• Abi Godiya Enna
• Linason Blessing
• Emmanuel A. Oloniruha, Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, Kogi State, Nigeria
• Kathleen DeLaurenti, Johns Hopkins University
• Adefunke Ebijuwa
• Jacob Hundu
• Dr Alice Corble, University of Sussex Libraries
• Sarah Lamdan, CUNY School of Law
• Kay Griffiths
• Emma Halford
• Carol Lubkowski
• Darren Flynn, University of Northampton
• Matthew Vest, UCLA
• Mandy Henk
• Fiona Tyson
• Ulrikke Greve Olufsen
• Jeremy Crumplin, Tate Gallery
• Pete Smith
• Lorna Robertson
• Phil Jones, University of Worcester
• Hazel Rothera, Oxford Brookes University
• Arthur Frost, Varndean College
• Caroline De Cock
• Lorraine Oliver
• Senan Healy
• Ruth Burns, University of Manchester
• Antonio Cajas
• Harald Müller
• Scott Pryor, Cardiff University
• Teresa MacKinnon
• Igor Hammer
• Tabea Klaus
• Matthew Phillips, Durham University
• Rick Prelinger, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Kevin L. Smith
• Meadhbh Haiceid
• Beth Williams
• Helen Walsh
• Brady Beard
• Nancy Bradford
• Pamela Tulloch
• Rachel Shields
• Ester Troche
• Lisa Haddow
• Ryan Tamares
• George Wilson
• Jane Theissen
• Kathleen Milne
• Odin Hauge Mo
• Grace Lo
• Camille Françoise
• Melanie Johnson
• Ray Holley
• Ciro Llueca, UOC (Open University of Catalonia)
• Sebastian Nix
• Rebecca Jones
• Russell Brown
• Benjamin Blinten
• Sarah Thompson
• Jackie Knowles, University of York
• Katherine Rose
• Gary Brannan
• Ian Simpson
• Mikkel Christoffersen
• Ayse Yuksel Durukan
• Sarah Pittaway, University of Worcester
• Ruth Harrison
• Kate O’Neill
• Alison Little
• Kathryn Corrall, Imperial College London
• Barbara Stratton
• Nongo Celina
• Stuart David Dempster
• Dan Lipcan, Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum
• Ian Hillesheim
• Paola Cirakolli
• Tim Stedman, University of Canterbury
• Christiane Swinbank
• Andrew Knight, Imperial College London
• Fiona Renfrew
• Aaron Worsley
• Laura Broadbent
• Emer O’Brien
• Michael Plaice
• Adriel Watt
• Rod Davies, Cardiff University
• Kate Schwenk
• Nicola Jones, Cardiff University
• Joe Nicholls, Cardiff University
• Sally Earney
• Angela Evans, Cardiff University
• Kath Hudson
• Alison Harvey, Cardiff University
• Ruth Hibbert
• Susan Mair, Northumbria University
• Celia Walter
• Jonathan Jones
• Jake Orlowitz, WikiBlueprint
• Helen Balfour
• Alison Westmaas
• Kathryn Devine
• Matthew Jellis, University of Worcester
• Amy Johnson
• Dr Helen Scott, University of Worcester
• Alyson Edenborough, Cardiff University
• Dana Karulová, Library of the Slovak National Gallery
• Nicoleta Cinpoes
• Robin Rice, University of Edinburgh
• Erika Maria S., Cardiff University
• Iain Robertson
• Philippa Hatch
• Peter Suber
• Alex Fenlon, University of Birmingham
• Alison Harding
• Waseem Farooq
• Megan Hughes
• Marion Manns
• Heather McDonald
• Teresa Williams
• Kathleen de la Peña McCook
• Geoff Barker
• George Koors
• Joyce M. Latham
• Patrícia Sanpera Izoard
• Ilse Assmann
• Helen Cargill
• Cornelie Butz
• Eric Schultz
• Chris Wilson
• Marc d’Avernas, Mount Royal University
• Austin Buchanan, Peterborough Public Library
• Ahniwa Ferrari
• Janice Greenberg
• Paula McGrew
• Samuel Trosow, University of Western Ontario
• Anne Scott
• Piotr Kowalik
• Chloe Williams
• George Thomas
• Ojie Sarmiento
• Hannah Praide
• Michelle M. Wu
• Susan Babbitt
• Katherine Ryner
• John Sheridan
• Annabel Cavaroli
• Mckenna Baameur
• Anna Du Chesne, University of New England, Australia
• Gilbert Meyns, University of New England, Australia
• Steven Ensslen
• Steel Wagstaff
• Barley Chatterton
• Shahnila Shafiq
• Mirko Bonanni, Fondazione Casa di Oriani
• Steve Lawson
• Sam Dodd
• Ingrid Unger
• Peta Hopkins
• Claire Ovaska, James Cook University Library
• Basak Buyukcelen, Pressbooks
• Diane Geraci
• Margret Gunnarsdottir
• Andrew Preater, University of West London
• Ingrid Thomson
• Jane Buggle
• Tanya Ulmer
• Irving M. Baxter
• Rebecca Ramsey
• Bernard Stradling
• Heather Edmonds, New England College of Optometry
• Alleya Rodriguez, Universidad de Puerto Rico
• Thomas Gerard Smith
• Megan Davis, California Correctional Institution
• Margaret Waldron, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology
• Adam Burke
• Judith S Anderson
• Caroline Walters
• Sarah Houghton
• John H Nickey
• Marie-Laurence Yans Yans
• Dr Johanna Archbold
• Alisdair MacRae
• Victoria Peters
• Alphege Maisiri
• Kassian Lemke-Elznic
• Danville Fourie
• Heather Pierce-Lopez
• Timothy Vollmer
• Jill Cirasella
• Jo Havemann, Access 2 Perspectives
• Mary Arendt
• Maureen Maguire
• Francesca Tondi, University of Birmingham