'For the past five years, Kyle K. Courtney, who directs copyright and information policy for Harvard’s libraries, has fought to make e-books more accessible to public libraries across the United States.

Most e-books have digital rights management software that means, like print books, they can only be checked out by one person at a time. But unlike print books, which can sit on library shelves for decades, e-books are often sold on time-limited contracts — meaning public libraries must buy them again after several years or, in some cases, several months. The costs can add up quickly.

Courtney, a lawyer by trade, believes that the strict contract terms are “undermining every library’s mission across the United States.”

“We can’t own our books. We can’t preserve them. We can’t keep them. We can’t check them out without having to pay for the same book over and over and over,” Courtney said. “And that’s problematic for collection development, for access, for budget, for all sorts of things.”' https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/9/24/Library-eBook-Contracts/ #books #copyright #contract #libraries