Blog post by Stephen Wyber
The mission of libraries is under threat. Not just from budget cuts or censorship, but from a “silent” crisis: a legal and market framework that is systematically stripping libraries of their right to function. Libraries are being written out of the digital age. It’s time to write them back in.
Today, Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21) launches a definitive roadmap to fight back: Safeguard Access, Empower Europe – An Action Plan to Let Libraries be Libraries. This is a sister publication to our Action Plan on Knowledge for a Stronger Europe, focused on research and open science.
The Invisible Crisis
In the physical world, libraries bought and owned books. In the digital world, they are forced into restrictive licenses they don’t own and cannot control. This transition has triggered a massive shift of power from public institutions to private rightholders.
Without intervention, we face a “21st-century black hole” in which digital works are never preserved, researchers are priced out, and the public’s right to information is constrained by unfair contracts.
The KR21 Action Plan: 9 Steps to Empowerment
We are calling on the European Union and national governments to adopt a comprehensive strategy across two critical fronts:
A) End Market Mismatch
Libraries deserve the same protections as consumers. We must stop market behaviours that treat public interest as an afterthought.
- Guarantee access: Stop the refusal to license digital materials to libraries on reasonable terms.
- Ban unfair contracts: Ensure private licenses cannot “override” the public interest mission of libraries.
- Break digital locks: Stop the misuse of Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) that prevent legal activities like preservation and lending.
- End legal intimidation: Protect libraries from the “chilling effect” of unlimited liability for their users’ actions.
- Investigate the market: Use competition tools to ensure information markets actually serve the public and challenge gatekeepers.
B) Modernise Copyright for Today
Copyright law shouldn’t stop at the library door. It must follow users into the digital world.
- Fix e-Lending: Fully implement EU court jurisprudence to allow libraries to lend e-books on a one-copy-one-user model.
- Go remote: Ensure laws are technology-neutral so that secure remote access is treated the same way as in-person access.
- Rescue lost and hidden works: Update provisions for “out-of-commerce” works to ensure meaningful public access to 20th-century culture.
- Support lifelong learning: Give libraries the same digital tools as formal education institutions to support informal learning.
This is Your Toolkit
This Action Plan isn’t just a policy paper: it’s a tool for librarians, institutions, and library associations. Governments rely on libraries to deliver on policy commitments, but they need to hear clearly what is standing in our way.
Which of these challenges hits hardest where you are? Which actions would make the biggest difference? How can we work together to make them happen?
Get in touch. Get involved. Let’s make sure libraries can be libraries.
Library Action Plan: Challenges vs. Solutions
This table summarises the core issues currently facing European libraries in the digital age and the strategic policy actions proposed by KR21 to address them. Download the table.
| ⚠️ The Challenge | ✅ The Action Plan’s Solution |
|---|---|
| Licensing Refusals Publishers can refuse to license digital materials, creating a “21st-century black hole” where works are never preserved. | Guaranteed Access Clarify that refusing to license digital materials on reasonable terms is unacceptable and explore guarantees for access. |
| Unfair Contracts Private contracts often “override” legal rights, and libraries lack the protections individual consumers enjoy. | Contract Protections Grant libraries protection against unfair terms and ensure licenses cannot undermine their public interest mission. |
| Digital Locks (TPMs) Over-application of technical locks prevents legal activities like digital preservation and inter-library lending. | TPM Reform Decriminalise circumvention for legal uses and set deadlines for rightholders to remove locks when requested. |
| Legal Fear Libraries face “chilling effects” and potential unlimited liability for the copyright-infringing actions of their users. | Liability Limits Establish clear limits on liability in EU law to protect libraries when they act reasonably and in good faith. |
| Broken Markets Digital markets often prioritise short-term profit and control over long-term growth and public policy goals, with major firms acting as gatekeepers. | Market Investigation Launch competition investigations into information markets to ensure libraries face fair market conditions. |
| Limited e-Lending Libraries cannot always lend e-books as easily as physical ones, despite favourable EU court rulings. | Modernised e-Lending Integrate EU jurisprudence into law to enable digitise-and-lend (one-copy-one-user) models. |
| Digital Barriers Restrictions on remote access disproportionately hurt people in remote areas or those with mobility issues. | Technology Neutrality Ensure laws allow digital document supply and remote access to enable activities comparable to those inside library walls. |
| Out-of-Commerce Works Works no longer for sale remain locked away due to complex hurdles, even when there is no risk of lost sales. | Access Exceptions Clarify that libraries can use an exception to share out-of-commerce works when no license is available. |
| Educational Exclusion Digital education exceptions are often limited to formal schools, excluding the informal and non-formal learning provided by libraries. | Support Learning Update exceptions to include informal learning and ensure libraries have access to the same digital content as schools. |
19 February 2026
