Digital Rights for Libraries

A copyright exception you cannot use is not really an exception.

That idea runs through the submission Internet Archive Europe (IAE) submitted to the European Commission this month. On 25 June, we responded to the Commission’s Call for Evidence on copyright, the review that will shape what users, libraries, archives and museums across Europe can do with digital materials for years to come.

The Commission asked for input on four areas. We answered each one, and we added a point the consultation left out: the basic rights memory institutions need to do their work online. Here is what we told them.

Protect the preservation work that the law already allows

European law already lets libraries, archives and research organisations mine text and data, including for training AI models, when the purpose is preservation or research. Lawmakers made a deliberate choice to protect that public-interest work without giving rightsholders a veto over it.

That protection is being quietly undone. Large rightsholders now apply blanket opt-outs, built for commercial AI, across the board. They draw no line between a company training a product and an archive preserving the record, and so they block the very preservation work the law set out to protect.

We asked the Commission to confirm what the Directive already implies: an opt-out designed for commercial use cannot override the preservation and research rights of cultural heritage institutions.

Tackle piracy without breaking the open web

Piracy of live events is a real problem. But the answer some governments have reached for does more harm than the problem it sets out to solve.

We pointed to two examples. Italy’s Piracy Shield blocks content so bluntly that the Commission itself wrote to Rome in 2025, finding the system out of step with fundamental rights. In Spain, courts have ordered VPN providers to block access in proceedings where those providers had no chance to speak, and ordinary websites get caught in the net.

These are enforcement tools built for commercial pirates, used without proper judicial oversight, and the damage falls on people and services that did nothing wrong. We asked the Commission to measure that damage before legislating further, and to rule out using live-event blocking against general, non-commercial websites.

One research exception, not twenty-seven

Right now, the EU’s research exception is optional. Member States have implemented it differently, leaving researchers facing 27 distinct legal environments and real barriers to working across borders. Publicly funded research often ends up locked behind the very paywalls the public already paid to overcome.

We backed a single, mandatory research exception across the EU, and a right for researchers to make publicly funded work openly available the moment it is published, with no embargo. Contracts and technical locks should not be allowed to override either.

The four rights every memory institution needs

The consultation’s four questions miss something larger. The Our Future Memory statement, which more than seventy organisations have now signed, including the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the International Council on Archives (ICA), sets out four rights that libraries, archives, and museums need in the digital world: to collect, to preserve, to provide access, and to cooperate across borders. Today’s law falls short on all four.

Collect. No EU rule requires the deposit of born-digital and web-published material. Journalism, government records, and culture that exists only online are slipping out of the published record entirely. We asked for a common baseline for the legal deposit of digital materials.

Preserve. Current law allows institutions to copy works for preservation only if those works are already in their permanent collection. Most of the open web and most licensed content fall outside it. We called this the 21st-century black hole: material that exists today and will be gone tomorrow because no one holds the legal right to save it.

Provide access. Two old rules hold this back. One governs works that are no longer commercially available, where licensing can take two to four years, if it happens at all, leaving a century of out-of-print culture in limbo. The other still ties library access to physical terminals on the premises, with no route to secure remote access for readers who cannot travel. Both need fixing.

Cooperate. Libraries can lend to each other across borders on paper, but not in digital form. A researcher who cannot travel has no legal way to obtain a digital copy. We asked for a clear cross-border exception for the supply of digital documents between research and library institutions.

The gap we want closed

Across every one of these areas, the same pattern shows up. Exceptions exist in the law, but technical locks, one-sided contracts, and the fear of getting it wrong stop institutions from using them. Faced with legal risk, librarians and archivists hold back, and rights that look solid on paper quietly disappear.

The Commission has a real chance to close the gap between what the law says memory institutions can do and what they can actually do, day to day. We will continue to make that case as the review moves forward.

Read our full submission here and add your organisation’s voice to Our Future Memory at ourfuturememory.org.

Internet Archive Europe (IAE) is pleased to welcome Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21) as the latest signatory to the Our Future Memory Statement on the Four Digital Rights of Memory Institutions.

KR21 is a pan-European advocacy coalition working to ensure that copyright and information law serves the public interest. Their signature adds one of the most evidence-driven voices in European library policy to a movement that now includes the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the International Council on Archives (ICA), the Wikimedia Foundation, and hundreds of libraries, archives, and museums across six continents.

KR21 Co-Founder Ben White welcomed the signing:

“Knowledge Rights 21 is delighted to sign the Our Future Memory Statement. Intersecting with our own work, the call to ensure that laws adequately support the ability of libraries and archives to preserve and give access to their collections in digital form could not be more urgent. Many of our institutions transitioned to a hybrid analogue and digital working environment in the 1990s. Nevertheless, nearly three decades later the law has not caught up. As memory institutions that preserve the cultural and scientific heritage of mankind, we need policymakers to act now before it is too late.”

Let Libraries be Libraries

KR21’s commitment to the Our Future Memory Statement sits alongside an active programme of advocacy work. The KR21 Library Action Plan, “Safeguard Access, Empower Europe,” sets out nine concrete steps the EU and national governments should take to ensure libraries can function in the digital age as they do in the physical one.

The plan addresses a structural problem. When libraries buy physical books, they own them. When they license digital content, the terms are set entirely by publishers. Publishers can refuse to license to libraries at all, withdraw titles without notice, and impose unlimited liability on libraries for what their users do with AI tools. That last clause has become a dealbreaker: libraries that cannot accept unlimited liability simply cannot sign the contract, and the content disappears from their collections.

The consequences are not abstract. In 2022, Wiley removed over 1,300 e-books from Irish library collections without warning, after reading lists had already been agreed with faculty for the academic year. Students lost access to confirmed course materials at the start of term. Libraries inherited the fallout with no recourse and no time.

Copyright law has not kept pace either. A decade after the Court of Justice of the European Union established a legal basis for e-lending, no member state has meaningfully implemented the ruling. Remote access to digital collections remains legally uncertain. Libraries mandated by governments to support lifelong learning cannot use the same digital education tools as schools and universities. The gap between what libraries are asked to do and what the law allows them to do keeps widening.

KR21’s nine-point action plan is specific about what needs to change: guaranteed access to digital materials on reasonable terms, contract protections that publishers cannot override, a workable framework for out-of-commerce works that are sitting inaccessible on library servers across Europe, and education exceptions that extend to the institutions governments have charged with supporting learning.

A Growing Movement – Time for Your Organisation to Join

The Our Future Memory Statement calls on policymakers to ensure that memory institutions retain online the same rights they have always held offline: the right to collect, to preserve, to provide access, and to cooperate across borders. KR21’s signature strengthens the case that these are not niche technical concerns. They are conditions for libraries to function as public institutions.

IAE encourages every organisation that supports open access to knowledge to add its name. No institution is too small, and the breadth of the sector is as important as the weight of its largest members.Sign the Statement at ourfuturememory.org.

The Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance (LACA) has signed the Statement on the Four Digital Rights of Memory Institutions, adding one of the UK’s most important copyright advocacy bodies to the growing Our Future Memory movement.

LACA is the principal UK organisation lobbying on behalf of the library, information, and archive professions and their users for fair copyright practices. Its membership spans the breadth of the sector: from national libraries and university consortia to archive bodies and professional associations. When LACA speaks on copyright, it speaks for the people who run the institutions that keep public knowledge alive.

Christy Henshaw, Co-Chair of LACA, explained the decision to sign:

“The UK Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance advocates for a fair and balanced copyright framework, one that upholds the rights of copyright holders while equally recognising the essential freedoms of users. By signing this Statement, we affirm our support for Our Future Memory’s call to protect, and indeed strengthen, the vital role of memory institutions as custodians of knowledge in a digital age where access to trusted information is so critical to our society.”

The Movement Expands

LACA’s endorsement is a signal from the UK copyright community that the digital rights of memory institutions are a mainstream concern, not a niche one. Libraries and archives hold knowledge for everyone who needs it, now and in the future. Getting that right in law requires exactly the kind of sustained, expert advocacy LACA brings.

Call to Action

Our Future Memory continues to grow. If your organisation has not yet signed, we encourage you to do so. No institution is too small, and the breadth of the sector matters as much as the weight of its largest members.

🔗 Sign the Statement: https://ourfuturememory.org

📧 Contact the Campaign: campaigns@internetarchive.eu 

Learn More

Previous Informational Webinar

If you missed our recent informational webinar, “Protect Our Future Memory: Join the Call for Library Digital Rights,” you can still watch the session to learn more about the growing international movement to secure the digital rights memory institutions have long held in the physical world.

Podcast: Hear the Voices Behind the Movement

To explore the origins, urgency, and global significance of the Four Digital Rights, we encourage you to listen to the Future Knowledge podcast episode on this campaign. Featuring leaders from across the library, archive, and digital rights communities, the episode offers essential context on why these rights matter—and what’s at stake.

Following the endorsement of IFLA, a leading global voice for libraries, we are especially proud to welcome its sister organisation, the International Council on Archives (ICA), as a new signatory to the Statement on the Four Digital Rights of Memory Institutions.

A copy of the Statement was formally signed by ICA President Josée Kirps. As the international representative body for archives and archivists worldwide, ICA’s support carries particular significance. In its endorsement, ICA emphasised the importance of protecting memory as a public good in an increasingly complex digital landscape:

“By signing this statement, the International Council on Archives reaffirms its commitment to protecting memory as a public good, including in digital environments. While much work remains—particularly regarding the ethical and legal dimensions of access to archival materials—this represents an important first step toward a more just and responsible digital future.”

Growing Support

In late 2025, SPARC added its name to the Statement, with Curationist following in early 2026, further expanding the coalition within the cultural heritage sector. Their participation marked the beginning of continued growth in 2026, as additional organisations joined the Our Future Memory movement, including Arkéotopia, Wellesley Free Library, and the Council of Prairie & Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL).

Together with ICA, these cultural heritage organisations demonstrate their understanding of the challenges the sector faces. These problems are emerging rapidly, and strong legal protections are required to ensure the continued preservation of and access to our cultural record.

Join the Movement

It is important to stress that no organisation is too small to adds its voice to our movement. The fact that an umbrella organisation signs does not mean that its individual members should refrain from doing so, as we want to ensure that the breadth of the sector is fully represented and visible to policymakers.

🔗 Sign the Statement: https://ourfuturememory.org
📧 Contact the Campaign: campaigns@internetarchive.eu

Learn More

Previous Informational Webinar

If you missed our recent informational webinar, “Protect Our Future Memory: Join the Call for Library Digital Rights,” you can still watch the session to learn more about the growing international movement to secure the digital rights memory institutions have long held in the physical world.

Upcoming Intervention on the campaign in a Knowledge Rights 21 Informational Webinar on 19 February 2026

Join the Internet Archive and partners a webinar on “Enabling Libraries, Guaranteeing Rights: A Legal Checklist for the Digital Age”

• When: 19 February 2026 – 11:00 CET
• Format: online
• Register here

Podcast: Hear the Voices Behind the Movement

To explore the origins, urgency, and global significance of the Four Digital Rights, we encourage you to listen to the Future Knowledge podcast episode on this campaign. Featuring leaders from across the library, archive, and digital rights communities, the episode offers essential context on why these rights matter—and what’s at stake.

Our Future Memory continues to strengthen its voice in the academic world with major support from Irish institutions.

Internet Archive Europe is proud to announce that two more prestigious academic bodies have signed the Statement on the Four Digital Rights of Memory Institutions. These endorsements add critical weight to the call for a future in which libraries and universities can continue their mission of preservation and access in the digital age.

Our newest Irish signatories are:

• The Irish Research e-Library (IReL)
• The University of Galway

They join a rapidly expanding coalition of more than forty umbrella organisations and institutions worldwide that have endorsed the Four Rights: the Right to Collect, the Right to Preserve, the Right to Lend, and the Right to Cooperate.

University of Galway

The institutional support for this campaign has been endorsed by the Academic Council of the University of Galway.

Recognising the vital link between historical preservation and future learning, the University emphasised the necessity of these rights for the academic community. As stated in their endorsement:

“The University of Galway Library is proud to preserve and make accessible the scholarly and cultural record of centuries past. We are very concerned about any limitations to our ability to guarantee the preservation and accessibility of content produced today for scholars and learners of the future. We therefore whole-heartedly endorse the protection of our Digital Rights and the Our Future Memory campaign.”

Irish Research e-Library (IReL)

The Governance Committee of the Irish Research e-Library (IReL), a major nationally funded consortium, has also given its support to the Statement.

A copy of the statement was formally signed by the IReL Chair, Prof. Eeva Leinonen. This endorsement signals a strong commitment from Irish research infrastructure to ensure that digital content remains accessible and preserved for the long term, as emphasised below:

“As a national shared service providing access to digital information resources to students and researchers across Ireland, IReL is keenly aware of the precarious nature of information access in the digital world. The four rights outlined in Our Future Memory are essential if we are to work collectively to ensure access to scientific knowledge for future generations.”

A United Front for Digital Rights

These new signatures build upon recent momentum in Ireland, following the endorsement by the Irish Universities Association Librarians’ Group (IUALG).

Together, these voices demonstrate a shared understanding within the academic sector: the problems facing memory institutions in the digital age are urgent, and legal protections are required to keep preserving and providing access to our cultural record.

Join the Movement

🔗 Sign the Statement: https://ourfuturememory.org
📧 Contact the Campaign: campaigns@internetarchive.eu

Our future memory depends on the choices we make today.

Learn More

Informational Webinar on 27 January 2026

Join the Internet Archive and partners for “Protect Our Future Memory: Join the Call for Library Digital Rights,” a webinar introducing the movement.

• When: 27 January 2026 – 19:00 GMT+1/ 10:00 PT / 13:00 ET
• Duration: one hour
• Format: online
• Register here

Shop Talk @ the Ontario Library Association Conference on 30 January 2026

Discover the “4 Rights for Digital Libraries” at this 15-minute session at the OLA Conference in Ontario, Canada.

• When: 30 January 2026 
• Duration: 15 minutes
• Format: in person
• More info here

Podcast: Hear the Voices Behind the Movement

To explore the origins, urgency, and global significance of the Four Digital Rights, we encourage you to listen to the Future Knowledge podcast episode on this campaign. Featuring leaders from across the library, archive, and digital rights communities, the episode offers essential context on why these rights matter—and what’s at stake.