Unfortunate, But Not Surprising: Court Blocks Maryland's Library eBook Law
Back in December, we wrote about how the major book publishers had teamed up to sue the state of Maryland over a fairly tame law concerning ebooks and libraries. As we've been detailing, over the last few years, the big book publishers have been working overtime to abuse copyright law to destroy libraries. Whereas, historically, a library could just buy a book like anyone else, and then lend it out, with ebooks, the publishers demand ridiculous prices for libraries and then put nonsensical restrictions on how libraries can lend out those ebooks. This is because publishers hate libraries - and, while they want to insist to you that copying a digital file is theft," they will also deny that those same digital files get the kind of first sale rights of physical books.
The Maryland law was very simple. It basically tried to make the digital world for libraries and ebooks similar to the analog world of libraries and paper books. It said that if a publisher offers an ebook to the public then it has to offer libraries an ebook license at a reasonable" price. Leaving aside the debates about what constitutes reasonable," the publishers argued that this law violated federal copyright law, which preempts states from creating their own copyright laws. Maryland argued back that this wasn't a copyright law, but just about licensing - pointing to an Ohio case about a law that regulated movie licenses that was found not to be preempted by the Copyright Act.
The court, though, has come down initially on the side of the publishers, issuing an injunction to stop the law from going into effect, and suggesting that it looks like the law is preempted by federal copyright law.
The Act's mandate that publishers offer to license their electronic literary products to libraries interferes with copyright owners' exclusive right to distribute by dictating whether, when, and to whom they must distribute their copyrighted works. Accordingly, the Court finds that the Maryland Act likely stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment of the objectives of the Copyright Act and that it is likely preempted under the Supremacy Clause.
Which... I get. But then couldn't you just as easily argue that the First Sale doctrine does the same thing? Or various copyright exceptions?
But, in the end, the Court more or less says that if publishers need to license ebooks on reasonable terms to libraries, it's for Congress, not the states to decide.
Libraries serve many critical functions in our democracy. They serve as a repository of knowledge-both old and new-and ensure access to that knowledge does not depend on wealth or ability. They also play a special role in documenting society's evolution. Congress has underscored the significance of libraries and has accorded them a privileged status on at least one occasion, legislating an exception to the Copyright Act's regime of exclusive rights that permits libraries to reproduce copyrighted material so it may be preserved in the public record across generations. See 17 U.S.C. 108. Libraries face unique challenges as they sit at the intersection of public service and the private marketplace in an evolving society that is increasingly reliant on digital media. Striking the balance between the critical functions of libraries and the importance of preserving the exclusive rights of copyright holders, however, is squarely in the province of Congress and not this Court or a state legislature.
So, hey, Congress, maybe here's a copyright reform that the public would actually get behind?