EReader and Books

With eBooks becoming an ever more normal way of reading, it is high time that the law caught up with reality. Yet libraries frequently struggle to obtain the eBooks their users want. And even when they do, contract terms prevent them using them in the same way as physical books.

IFLA, alongside EBLIDA and Public Libraries 2020, therefore welcomes the opinion of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union which clearly states that the rules for lending out physical books should also apply to eBooks.

If the judges subsequently endorse this view, it will not only establish a right to eLend, but also put an end to a situation where authors see little benefit from readers’ appetite for eBooks.

You can read more in our press statement.