Connecticut Deputy Commissioner of Consumer Protection Michelle Seagull's extensive study of American libraries, eBooks, publishers and the effect on Connecticut consumers.

1. Department of Consumer Protection
E-Book Report
State of Connecticut E-book Symposium
February 28, 2014

2. E-Book Study Overview
• Whether and How E-books are Made Available
to Public Libraries
• Problems with Current Practices
• Recommendations
• Questions

3. E-Book Transactions Differ From
Traditional Book Sales
• Different Treatment Under Copyright Law
• E-book Transactions Typically Involve a ThirdParty Platform that Hosts the Content

4. Copyright Law
• Owner can exclude others from reproducing or
distributing the copyrighted work.
• Rights last for the life of the author plus
seventy years.
• First sale doctrine allows buyers to sell or
dispose of their copy.

5. First Sale Doctrine and E-Content
• Capital Records v. Redigi
• The transfer of digital content involves an
unauthorized reproduction;
• Public policy reasons for not extending the
first sale doctrine to digital content.
• Digital content does not degrade;
• Digital content can be transferred
instantaneously to anywhere at no almost
no cost.

6. The Role of the Distributor
• Between the publisher and library in the
distribution chain.
• Provides a platform for e-books to be
transferred to library patrons in a way that is
compatible with the library license.
• Protects e-books from piracy.

7. E-Book Availability to Libraries
• Literal Availability
• Economic Availability

8. Literal Availability of E-books
• Which books are relevant?
• All e-books
• E-books by the top publishers
• New releases
• Bestsellers

9. Status of Literal E-book Availability
• Five of six top publishers make their e-books
available to public libraries in Connecticut.
• Four of those five make all of their books
available; one provides only backlist titles.
• The single hold-out has begun a pilot in New
York whereby it is experimenting with making
its books available at public libraries.
* Although Penguin and Random House merged in 2013, they were treated separately
for purposes of the study because their e-book policies continued to diverge.

10. Reason for Optimism
Publisher
E-books Available to Public Libraries in Connecticut
2012
2013
Available
Limitations on Titles
Available
Limitations on Titles
Hachette
Yes
Titles from 2010 and Yes
earlier
None
HarperCollins
Yes
None
Yes
None
Macmillan
No
N/A
Yes
Penguin
No
N/A
Yes
Limited number of
backlist titles.
None
Random
House
Simon &
Schuster
Yes
None
Yes
None
No
N/A
No
N/A

11. Economic Availability
• Libraries are paying more than consumers for
at least some e-books.
• Some e-book licenses place limits on the
number of circulations.
• Other licenses require repurchase after one or
two years.

12. Other Adjustments Associated with E-books
• Cost of Distributor
• Limits on interlibrary loans
• Staff training and patron assistance
• Lost revenue from used book sales

13. Problems with Current Practices
• Some popular e-books are:
• Unavailable
• Only available at a high cost
• Permit limited circulations
• Have temporal limitations

14. Why This Matters
• Libraries:
• Promote Reading and Literacy
• Help Bridge the Digital Divide
• Provide Access and Training for New
Technologies
• Libraries must be able evolve to serve current
technological needs of their communities.

15. Recommendations
• Wait and See
• Increase Library Funding
• Develop State-owned E-book Platform

16. Wait and See
• Libraries currently have access to many ebooks;
• Availability is increasing;
• Reason to believe publishers will continue to
work with libraries on this issue:
• Libraries are significant book purchasers;
• Libraries are an important source of book
discovery for avid readers;
• Libraries can further demonstrate their value
with a “Buy-It” link.

17. Increase Library Funding
• Would enable more e-book purchases.
• Opportunity cost as funding must come from
somewhere.
• Considered imposing a fee on book publishers.

18. Create an E-book Platform
• Possible Benefits
• Consolidate State purchasing power
• Greater control over user interface
• Increased ability for interlibrary loans
• Long-term cost-savings
• Expand e-content offerings

19. Create an E-book Platform
• Potential Challenges
• Initial and ongoing costs
• Reaching consensus on system features and
individual library contributions
• May not be able to reach deal that permits ebooks by the top publishers on the State
platform

20. QUESTIONS
?