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HF466 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to contracts between a publisher and a library for electronic literary materials, and providing civil penalties.

A bill for an act relating to contracts between a publisher and a library for electronic literary materials, and providing civil penalties.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
RINKER
Last action
2025-02-27
Official status
Subcommittee reassigned: Jones, Kressig and Latham. H.J. 463 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to contracts between a publisher and a library for electronic literary materials, and providing civil penalties.

A bill for an act relating to contracts between a publisher and a library for electronic literary materials, and providing civil penalties.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to contracts between a publisher and a library for electronic literary materials, and providing civil penalties.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-02-27 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee reassigned: Jones, Kressig and Latham. H.J. 463 .

  2. 2025-02-20 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Wheeler, Kressig and Latham. H.J. 407 .

  3. 2025-02-19 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to Local Government. H.J. 357 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to contracts between a publisher and a library for electronic literary materials, and providing civil penalties.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

466

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

466

BY

RINKER

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

contracts

between

a

publisher

and

a

library

1

for

electronic

literary

materials,

and

providing

civil

2

penalties.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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466

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

554I.1

Definitions.

1

For

purposes

of

this

section,

unless

the

context

otherwise

2

requires:

3

1.

“Aggregator”

means

a

person

in

the

business

of

licensing

4

access

to

electronic

literary

material

collections,

including

5

from

multiple

publishers.

6

2.

“Borrower”

means

a

person,

including

another

library,

to

7

whom

a

library

loans

media

of

any

type.

8

3.

“Digital

audiobook”

means

a

sound

recording

of

a

reading

9

of

a

literary

production

that

has

been

converted

into,

or

10

published

in,

a

digital

audio

file

that

may

be

listened

to

on

11

an

electronic

device.

12

4.

“Electronic

book”

means

a

text

document

converted

into,

13

or

published

in,

a

digital

format

that

may

be

read

on

an

14

electronic

device.

15

5.

“Electronic

literary

material”

means

a

digital

audiobook

16

or

electronic

book.

17

6.

“Library”

means

a

public

library,

a

public

school

18

library,

a

tribal

library,

an

academic

library,

a

research

19

library,

public

archives,

or

the

state

library.

20

7.

“Loan”

means

the

transmission

by

a

library

to

a

borrower

21

of

a

copy

of

electronic

literary

materials

and

the

deletion

of

22

the

copy

of

the

electronic

literary

materials

by

the

library

at

23

a

time

determined

by

the

library.

24

8.

“Publisher”

means

a

person

in

the

business

of

25

manufacturing,

promulgating,

licensing,

or

selling

books,

26

audiobooks,

journals,

magazines,

newspapers,

or

other

27

literary

productions,

including

electronic

literary

materials.

28

“Publisher”

includes

an

aggregator

who

enters

into

a

contract

29

with

a

library

for

the

purpose

of

providing

materials

for

30

purchase

or

license

from

a

publisher.

31

Sec.

2.

NEW

SECTION

.

554I.2

Scope.

32

This

chapter

shall

apply

to

a

contract

or

license

agreement

33

offered,

entered

into,

or

renewed

by

a

publisher

for

the

34

license

of

electronic

literary

materials

to

a

library

in

the

35

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466

state

on

or

after

July

1,

2025.

1

Sec.

3.

NEW

SECTION

.

554I.3

Contract

or

license

2

requirements.

3

1.

A

contract

or

license

agreement

between

a

publisher

and

4

a

library

shall

not

preclude,

limit,

or

restrict

the

library

5

from

performing

customary

operational

or

lending

functions,

and

6

shall

not

contain

a

provision

that

does

any

of

the

following:

7

a.

Prohibits

the

library

from

loaning

certain

electronic

8

literary

materials,

including

through

an

interlibrary

loan

9

system.

10

b.

Restricts

the

length

of

time

a

library

may

loan

certain

11

electronic

literary

materials,

or

restricts

the

number

of

times

12

the

library

may

loan

certain

electronic

literary

materials

over

13

the

course

of

the

license

agreement.

14

c.

Limits

the

number

of

electronic

literary

material

15

licenses

the

library

may

purchase

on

the

same

date

the

16

electronic

literary

material

is

made

available

for

purchase

by

17

the

public.

18

d.

Prohibits

the

library

from

making

nonpublic

preservation

19

copies

of

electronic

literary

materials.

20

e.

Restricts

the

library

from

disclosing

the

terms

of

the

21

contract

or

license

agreement

to

any

other

library

in

the

22

state.

23

f.

Restricts

the

duration

of

the

contract

or

license

24

agreement

unless

the

publisher

has

also

offered

the

library

a

25

contract

or

license

agreement

that

is

any

of

the

following:

26

(1)

Based

on

a

pay-per-use

model.

27

(2)

Provides

for

the

perpetual

public

use

of

the

electronic

28

literary

material

upon

commercially

reasonable

terms

in

29

consideration

of

the

library’s

mission.

30

g.

Requires

the

library

to

violate

section

22.7.

31

2.

A

contract

or

license

agreement

between

a

publisher

and

a

32

library

may

require

any

of

the

following:

33

a.

A

limitation

on

the

number

of

borrowers

the

library

34

may

allow

to

have

simultaneous

access

to

certain

electronic

35

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466

literary

materials.

1

b.

The

library’s

reasonable

use

of

a

technological

2

protection

measure

that

prevents

a

borrower

from

doing

any

of

3

the

following:

4

(1)

Maintaining

access

to

certain

electronic

literary

5

materials

beyond

the

loan

period

specified

in

the

license.

6

(2)

Providing

another

person

with

access

to

certain

7

electronic

literary

materials.

8

Sec.

4.

NEW

SECTION

.

554I.4

Enforcement

——

penalties.

9

If

the

attorney

general

has

reasonable

belief

that

a

10

publisher

is

in

violation

of

this

chapter,

the

attorney

general

11

has

the

sole

authority

to

bring

civil

action

to

provide

for

all

12

of

the

following:

13

1.

Enjoinment

of

further

violations

by

the

publisher.

14

2.

Enforcement

of

compliance

with

this

chapter.

15

3.

Assessment

of

civil

penalties

in

an

amount

not

more

than

16

one

hundred

thousand

dollars.

17

4.

Other

remedies

permitted

under

law.

18

EXPLANATION

19

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

20

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

21

This

bill

relates

to

contracts

between

a

publisher

and

a

22

library

for

electronic

literary

materials.

23

The

bill

prohibits

a

contract

or

license

agreement

between

24

a

publisher

and

a

library

from

precluding,

limiting,

and

25

restricting

the

library

from

performing

customary

operational

26

or

lending

functions.

The

contract

or

license

agreement

27

shall

not

contain

a

provision

that

prohibits

the

library

from

28

loaning

electronic

literary

material

(material);

restricts

29

the

number

of

times

the

library

may

loan

material

over

the

30

course

of

the

license

agreement;

limits

the

number

of

material

31

licenses

the

library

may

purchase

on

the

same

date

the

material

32

is

made

available

for

purchase

by

the

public;

prohibits

the

33

library

from

making

nonpublic

preservation

copies

of

material;

34

restricts

the

library

from

disclosing

the

terms

of

the

contract

35

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466

or

license

agreement

to

another

library

in

the

state;

restricts

1

the

duration

of

the

contract

or

license

agreement

unless

the

2

publisher

has

also

offered

the

library

a

contract

or

license

3

agreement

that

is

either

based

on

a

pay-per-use

model

or

4

provides

for

the

perpetual

public

use

of

the

material;

and

5

requires

the

library

to

violate

the

provisions

of

Code

section

6

22.7.

“Borrower”,

“electronic

literary

material”,

“library”,

7

“loan”,

“loan

period”,

and

“publisher”

are

defined

in

the

bill.

8

The

bill

authorizes

a

contract

or

license

agreement

between

9

a

publisher

and

a

library

to

limit

the

number

of

borrowers

the

10

library

may

allow

to

have

simultaneous

access

to

material.

The

11

bill

also

authorizes

a

contract

or

license

agreement

between

a

12

publisher

and

a

library

to

require

the

library’s

reasonable

use

13

of

a

technological

protection

measure

that

prevents

a

borrower

14

from

maintaining

access

to

material

beyond

the

loan

period

15

specified

in

the

license,

or

from

providing

another

person

with

16

access

to

material.

17

The

bill

authorizes

the

attorney

general,

upon

reasonable

18

belief

that

a

publisher

is

in

violation

of

the

bill,

to

bring

19

civil

action

to

enjoin

further

violations

by

the

publisher,

20

enforce

compliance

with

the

bill,

assess

a

civil

penalty

not

to

21

exceed

$100,000

per

violation

of

the

bill,

and

to

obtain

other

22

remedies

permitted

under

law.

23

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