Controlled Digital Lending of Library Books in Canada

February 15, 2022

The Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) Copyright Committee has developed a paper that explores the legal considerations for how libraries in Canada can lend digital copies of books.

Abstract
This paper explores legal considerations for how libraries in Canada can lend digital copies of books. It is an adaptation of A Whitepaper on Controlled Digital Lending of Library Books by David Hansen and Kyle K. Courtney, and draws heavily on this source in its content, with the permission of the authors. Our paper considers the legal and policy rationales for the process — “controlled digital lending” — in Canada, as well as a variety of risk factors and practical considerations that can guide libraries seeking to implement such lending, with the intention of helping Canadian libraries to explore controlled digital lending in our own Canadian legal and policy context. Our goal is to help libraries and their lawyers become better informed about the concept by fully explaining the legal rationale for controlled digital lending in Canada, as well as situations in which this rationale is the strongest.

The paper is available on SSRN.

Preprint of CFLA paper – CDL of Library Books in Canada – now available on SSRN

The Copyright Committee of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) have observed increased interest in Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) to provide digital access to library materials. The CFLA Copyright Committee’s Controlled Digital Lending working group has developed a paper that examines the legal framework for CDL in Canada and the preprint of this paper, “Controlled Digital Lending of Library Books in Canada” is now available on SSRN at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4031054

The paper explores legal considerations for how libraries in Canada can lend digital copies of books. It is an adaptation of “A Whitepaper on Controlled Digital Lending of Library Books” by David Hansen and Kyle C. Courtney, and draws heavily on this source in its content, with the permission of the authors.

The CFLA paper considers the legal and policy rationales for the process — “controlled digital lending” — in Canada, as well as a variety of risk factors and practical considerations that can guide libraries seeking to implement such lending, with the intention of helping Canadian libraries to explore controlled digital lending in our own Canadian legal and policy context.

Comments that readers wish the CFLA Committee to consider prior to publication can be directed through the email provided on SSRN.

(Via CFLA)