PART 4Intellectual Property

31Lending of e-books by public libraries

1

In section 5(2) of the Public Lending Right Act 1979 (interpretation) for the definition of “lent out” substitute—

  • “lent out” means made available to a member of the public for use away from library premises for a limited time (including by being communicated by means of electronic transmission to a place other than library premises) and “loan” and “borrowed” are to be read accordingly;

2

Section 40A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (lending of copies by libraries or archives) is amended as follows.

3

After subsection (1) insert—

1ZA

Subsection (1) applies to an e-book or an e-audio-book only if—

a

the book has been lawfully acquired by the library, and

b

the lending is in compliance with any purchase or licensing terms to which the book is subject.

4

In subsection (1A)—

a

for “subsection (1)” substitute “subsections (1) and (1ZA)”;

b

after paragraph (a) insert—

aa

“e-audio-book” means an audio-book (as defined in paragraph (a)) in a form enabling lending of the book by electronic transmission,