Study: Secure Digital Lending in European libraries

Centrum Cyfrowe has been selected to deliver a European study on the law around digital lending, funded by the Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21) Programme.

Share your experience

We are interested in hearing from legal experts, library professionals, and researchers about your experiences of dealing with digital lending in libraries and would be grateful if you could take time to complete this survey.

Deadline: October 30, 2022.

About a study

The study will provide a comparative analysis of the current state of copyright law regarding the possibility for libraries to digitise and lend books under national and European law, covering all EU Member States and a selection of Council of Europe Member States. Based on the findings the study will consider ways to facilitate the provision of Secure Digital Lending (SDL) by libraries within the norms of copyright law. 

The main goal of the research is to help understand better the legal standing of digitisation and lending under European law, to identify Member States in which such lending may already be legal without any legislative changes, where it could be legalised through national legislative changes and where, if applicable, EU-level legislative changes would be required.

The principal investigator is Dr. Konrad Gliściński LL.M. (Centrum Cyfrowe/ Jagiellonian University). The study will be conducted in partnership with researchers from the Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Law and Administration, Future Law Lab

The final research report will be published in January 2023. Next to the report, to scale up its outreach, a scientific article will be prepared based on the results of the research.

About Centrum Cyfrowe

Centrum Cyfrowe (FCC) is a think-and-do tank based in Warsaw (Poland) that supports openness and engagement in the digital world. Together with experts and practitioners open to change, it conducts research and creates space for new ideas, skills and tools development. It strives to ensure that the social interest is always in the first place in the relationship between humans and technology. 

FCC participates in national and European legislative processes related to the direction of the development of digitisation and technology. It engages in research and dialogue on legislation and policies based on the voluntary opening of resources with the use of free licenses, as well as other forms of regulation of content circulation, such as rules on online platform responsibility or regulations regarding the re-use of public sector information. It undertakes research and advocacy activities that also involve the openness of public resources in a wide sense of the term, including GLAM, which allows for the full use of its potential in the economy and in the society. 

About Knowledge Rights 21

The Knowledge Rights 21 Programme (KR21) is focused on bringing about changes in legislation and practice across Europe that will strengthen the right of all to knowledge. It is built on a conviction that knowledge is essential for education, innovation and cultural participation, and that everyone should have the possibility – in particular through libraries and archives, and digitally – to access and use it.

Made possible by the generosity of the Arcadia Fund, KR21 works both to deliver substantive change today, and build capacity in order to ensure that the voice and needs of libraries and their users is heard in debate around copyright reform.