The NYT looks at recent efforts to ban books from school libraries, with a focus on the effects felt by librarians. They catalog some of the most extreme cases, writing that librarians “have been labeled pedophiles on social media, called out by local politicians and reported to law enforcement officials.” Some have quit after experiencing online harassment and others have been fired for refusing to remove certain titles from circulation. The recent book banning movement, which began in Florida and Texas, has now “exploded across the country,” with calls for bans reaching New Jersey, and at least five states, including […]
Libraries
OCLC Sues Clarivate for Stealing Library Catalog Records
OCLC has filed a lawsuit against Clarivate and its subsidiaries Clarivate Analytics, ProQuest and ExLibris for “tortious interference of contract, tortious interference of prospective business relationships, and conspiracy to do the same.” ExLibris is developing a collaborative cataloging system called MetaDoor, a competitor to WorldCat, OCLC’s collective catalog of library bibliographic content that is populated by library members who are contracted with OCLC. (OCLC says 8,000 libraries have WorldCat subscriptions.) The suit alleges that Clarivate has built MetaDoor with data from WorldCat, given to them by OCLC customers—a breach of those customers’ contract with OCLC. “In addition to tortiously interfering […]
School and Library Book Bans Go Digital, Restricting Entire Collections
At least three counties have removed access to e-reading apps used by schools and libraries in a continued effort to restrict children’s access to books, NBC News reports. In Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, a few parents have objected to digital reading platforms, including OverDrive and Epic, aiming to restrict access to books on gender, race, and LGBTQ+ themes. The apps became even more widely used due to the pandemic and virtual schooling. These bans affect all users, not just individual students, and all titles — removing access to entire digital collections of books for the sake of restricting a few, […]
Maryland Concedes They Are Regulating Where Congress Would Not Go
In a bizarre reply to the AAP’s request for a preliminary injunction, the state of Maryland both concedes and underscores that Congress specifically declined to create a first sale doctrine for digital goods, leaving it to the marketplace to adapt. Unhappy with that decision and its effect, Maryland has elected to regulate the marketplace for copyrighted goods, in conflict with Congress and the law. They justify that with the novel suggestion that once copyrighted goods are offered to the marketplace, they have magically “left the world of copyright” — except they haven’t — and “entered the marketplace for such transactions,” […]
Maryland Claims eBook Lending Law Is About “Consumer Protection” Not Copyright, But Clearly Seeks to Remedy Lack of Digital First Sale Doctrine
The state of Maryland filed their reply to the AAP’s motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s new library ebook law while the matter is litigated. The state claims the interference with Federal copyright law is incidental and accidental rather than primary: The AAP’s complaint, they write, “rests on the mistaken assumption the Maryland Act is a copyright law and not a regulation of unfair trade practices. State copyright laws are preempted by federal law, but State laws restraining unfair trade practices are not…. The Maryland Act, by contrast, is a consumer protection statute regulating reasonable terms regarding licensing […]
Data Says Library eBook Lending Is Up, Costs Are Down
In contrast to lobbying efforts in some state legislatures, the dominant service provider for library ebook lending reports that the market is thriving. Overdrive notes that in 2021, “With a focus on equity of access to books for all, libraries achieved all-time records for circulation while lowering the average cost-per-title borrowed.” Senior manager for public library content Karen Estrovich says in one press release flexible pricing models are an important element: “Top performing libraries utilized simultaneous access, cost-per-use and community reading programs to maximize access by increasing the number of available books in their collections.” Among the factors, American Rescue […]