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.

We believe:

• Copyright must be updated for the digital age and exceptions and limitations must be made for libraries to best serve the public
• Controlled Digital Lending and other innovative lending practices should be legally protected
• 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
• Libraries should be able to purchase and lend all eresources at reasonable prices
• 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
• Libraries have a responsibility to advocate for policies that will affect their communities
• We must achieve ideal, universal access to knowledge for all patrons regardless of socioeconomic status, identity, or ability
  

‍

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.