ALA Responds to New Development in Maryland Ebook Lawsuit

ALA announced the following:

A federal district court held a hearing [Feb. 7] on the state of Maryland’s new law on access to digital books in libraries, which was challenged by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) in a trial filed Dec. 9, 2021. Maryland law, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2022, requires publishers to offer licenses for e-books and other electronic literary products to public libraries “on reasonable terms” if the materials are available to the public in Maryland.

During the hearing, Judge Deborah L. Boardman of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland said, “It seems to me that there is inequity and injustice in the way publishers have treated public libraries.

The ALA’s statement in response reads in part: “ALA commends the attorneys of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office for their vigorous defense of the law and for correctly arguing that Maryland law is neither preempted by federal copyright law or the U.S. Constitution…. The ALA Supports Maryland Libraries and Library Employees, the Maryland Library Association, the Maryland State Library, and the Maryland Attorney General: The Complaint of the AAP must be rejected.

For more information, read the Press release.