SB 1234 — AN ACT PROHIBITING LIBRARIES FROM AGREEING TO CERTAIN TERMS IN ELECTRONIC BOOK AND DIGITAL AUDIOBOOK LICENSE AGREEMENTS OR CONTRACTS.

Substitute Senate GeneralBill Assembly File No.

1321234 JanuaryPublic Session,Act 2025 Substitute Senate Bill No.

123425-9 Senate,AN MarchACT 19,PROHIBITING 2025LIBRARIES TheFROM CommitteeAGREEING onTO GovernmentCERTAIN AdministrationTERMS andIN ElectionsELECTRONIC reportedBOOK throughAND SEN.DIGITAL AUDIOBOOK LICENSE AGREEMENTS OR CONTRACTS.

FLEXER of the 29th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT PROHIBITING LIBRARIES FROM AGREEING TO CERTAIN TERMS IN ELECTRONIC BOOK AND DIGITAL AUDIOBOOK LICENSE AGREEMENTS OR CONTRACTS.

(NEW) (Effective July 1, 2026,2025) and applicable to contracts or license agreements entered into or renewed on or after said date) (a) As used in this section:

(3) "Electronic book" means a text document that has been converted into or published in a digital format that may be read on a computer or sSB1234portable /electronic Filedevice; No.

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132 portable electronic device;

(5)Substitute "Library"Senate includesBill (A)No. any public library, public elementary school library, secondary school library, academic library, research library or publicarchive (i) that is funded directly or indirectly,inwhole or in part, during a fiscal year by the state or a political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, matching expenditures, grants, loans, bonding, insurance or guarantees, and (ii) for the duration of any fiscal year in which such funding is received and the fiscal year next succeeding;

1234 (5) "Library" includes (A) any public library, public elementary school library, secondary school library, academic library, research library or publicarchive (i) that is funded directly or indirectly,inwhole or in part, during a fiscal year by the state or a political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, matching expenditures, grants, loans, bonding, insurance or guarantees, and (ii) for the duration of any fiscal year in which such funding is received and the fiscal year next succeeding;

and sSB1234(11) /"Loan Fileperiod" No.means the period of time commencing with the creation and transmission by a library to a borrower of a copy of any electronic literary material and concluding with the deletion of such copy by the library, as determined by the library.

132Public 2Act sSB1234 File No.

13225-9 (11)2 "Loan period" means the period of time5 commencingSubstitute withSenate theBill creationNo. and transmission by a library to a borrower of a copy of any electronic literary material and concluding with the deletion of such copy by the library, as determined by the library.

(b)1234 The(b)(1)OnthesixtiethdayfollowingthedatetheSecretaryoftheState, in consultation with the State Librarian, determines that a substantially similar law to the provisions of this section has been enacted in one or more states, not including this state, and the aggregate population of such state or states equals at least seven million, as enumerated in the most recent United States decennial census, the provisions of this section shall apply to any contract or license agreement entered into or renewed on and after Julysuch 1,sixtieth 2026,day, by a library in the state with a publisher for the license of any electronic literary material.

(c)The OnState andLibrarian after July 1, 2026, no library in the state shall enterverify intowhether or renew any contractstates orhave licenseenacted agreementany withsuch asubstantially publishersimilar thatlaws precludes,not limitsless orthan restrictsquarterly. the library from performing customary operational or lending functions, including any provision that:

(2) Not later than thirty days after the date the secretary, in consultation with the State Librarian, makes such determination in accordance with subdivision (1) of this subsection, the State Librarian shall electronically notify the Commissioner of Education, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and all libraries operated by a state agency of such determination and the date the requirements of this section become effective and the Secretary of the State and State Librarian shall ensure that such determination and effective date are posted on the Internet web sites of the State Library and the office of the Secretary of the State.

The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall electronically notify all municipalities of this state and the Commissioner of Education shall electronically notify all public elementary schools and secondary schools, of such determination and effective date.

(c) On and after the sixtieth day following the date of determination by the secretary, in consultation with the State Librarian, as specified in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section, no library in the state shall enter into or renew any contract or license agreement with a publisher that precludes, limits or restricts the library from performing customary operational or lending functions, including any provision Public Act No.

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1234 that:

(6) Restricts the duration of the contract or license agreement for electronic literary material unless the library also has the option of a contract or license agreement on commercially reasonable terms in consideration of the library's mission, that either (A) is based on a pay-per-usepay- per-use model, or (B) provides for the perpetual public use of the electronic literary material;

sSB1234(7) /Requires Filethe No.library to violate the provisions of section 11-25 of the general statutes;

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132 (7) Requires the library to violate the provisions of section 11-25 of the general statutes;

(d)Public AnyAct libraryNo. in the state may enter into a contract or license agreement with a publisher that contains:

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1234 (d) Any library in the state may enter into a contract or license agreement with a publisher that contains:

ThisGovernor's actAction: shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

SectionApproved 1May July29, 1,2025 2026,Public andAct NewNo. section applicable to contracts or license agreements entered into or renewed on or after said date Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

The25-9 title5 wasof changed.5

GAE Joint Favorable Subst.

-LCO sSB1234 / File No.

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132 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $ Library, CT State GF - Potential None See Below Savings Constituent Units of Higher OF - Potential None See Below Education Savings Note:

GF=General Fund;