In this article we discuss the three current legal/ policy issues that impact research libraries- Secondary Publishing Rights (SPR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and contracts. We call for libraries to wield their great power and responsibility to engage in the debates locally, nationally and internationally to express their view, and to use their voice to shape the world around us. However, collaboration and advocacy doesn’t mean that libraries must have the same view to speak with one voice, just that they must speak up.

Over recent years legislative issues that impact libraries have been increasing in frequency and prevalence. Within the past 12 months alone there have been numerous European wide discussions, surveys, calls for evidencei, consultationsii, and economic impact assessmentsiii on these issues, and the anticipated European Research Area (ERA) Act. Access to digital content, licensing regimes, ebook pricing, digital lending, copyright reform, Open Science policies, AI and the “Digital Omnibus”iv are just a few examples that affect libraries : what resources we can obtain, how we provide access to information, and how we support our users in their studies, their teaching and their research.

Organisations like LIBER (the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche)v represent and support research libraries and their users in these discussions alongside other organisations such as IFLA, Sparc Europe, Science Europe, ALLEA, and the project Knowledge Rights 21vi. These organisations rely on their members to shape their work and inform the priority areas they need to address. For LIBER there is the Copyright & Legal Matters Working Groupvii, made up of librarians, lawyers, professors and communications professionals who monitor current European law and react to proposed changes, on behalf of libraries, archives, researchers and students. Since its formation in 2014, the group has fundamentally impacted the development of legal thinking in Europe, to the benefit of libraries, universities and researchers.

As the EC’s “Improving access”viii report explored in detail, researchers and librarians are working in a world with a complex local, national, and EU legal framework. This complexity affects practice and in 2025 the Copyright Working Group translated the report’s recommendations into a tangible Action Plan for research librariesix. Across many of the activities within the Action Plan was a call for libraries to collaborate, locally, nationally and internationally, to engage with stakeholders, to participate in the debate and to exert their influence on discussions that are shaping our landscape.

Open Access Publishing & Secondary Publishing Rights

If we look at Open Access publishing, many research libraries are engaging in so called Read and Publish deals facilitating open access as a part of the European Commission’s Open Science policy goalx. These agreements have helped accelerate Open Science by giving researchers clearer routes to publish openly, but they also leave access dependent on negotiated publisher terms leading to many questioning their value as costs continue to increase. Many countries have SPRs that allow for the public release, and use of research publications, as a legislative measure above licensing agreements in addition to the original publication process. Many of these SPRs, including the French SPRxi, pre-date the growth of Read and Publish agreements and have existed for many years without significant legal challenge. Harmonising SPRs at EU level would provide a more consistent, rights-based route to sharing publicly funded research across Europe, simplifying and clarifying research communication processes.

The “Improving Access” report recommended a harmonised SPR at EU level which has been included with the ERA Act discussions, a recent consultation, and impact assessment earlier in 2026.

Artificial Intelligence

AI is a huge priority for many research libraries across Europe with legal, ethical and moral questions being raised that go to the heart of library professional practice. From a legal perspective the challenges include the legality of harvesting content with or without permission, the need for citation/ referencing sources and the risk of outputs being substantially similar to the original. This article cannot go into the full debate here, suffice to say that it is a legal problem that is impacting the ability of research libraries to provide access to content, the licence terms, and how they guide researchers through their use of content and AI tools. We can see however that different libraries and consortia will have different views and are taking different approaches :

• In France, Couperin published a position paper on the integration of artificial intelligence, highlighting the scientific, economic and ethical issues and the need to develop trusted, transparent academic AI adapted to the needs of researchxii.
• In Germany, the German National Library (DNB), TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, and the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels published a joint statement (in German) formulating basic principles for the responsible and legally compliant use of AI in publishingxiii.
• In the UK, the University of Birmingham has been guiding researchers by creating an AI licensing toolxiv which helps researchers review the terms and conditions of AI tools they may wish to use, as well as helping them choose AI tools responsiblyxv.
• In Norway, the National Library has developed an AI-lab utilising large digital collections and acting “as a contributor to the development of good AI”.
• In the Netherlands, the National Library of the Netherlands issued a statement saying that “commercial parties who crawl digital resources on websites on a large scale for training models, using applications such as ChatGPT, are not complying with the AI principles established by the KB in 2020”xvi, while encouraging academic research and, more recently, “contributing to an ethically responsible AI language model” the GPT-NL which “is using only lawfully obtained data to develop an ethically responsible AI language model for Dutch language and culture”xvii.

 

Crédit photo Adobe Stock – fadillah, généré à l’aide de l’IA.

Contractual insecurities

Librarians work with suppliers, such as publishers, to ensure the content they provide is suitable for their research and teaching purposes and can be used accordingly. Modern research and teaching are collaborative and international with researchers and students located far away from campuses, including in different countries, yet the licences for this content are frequently limited to geographic locations, campuses, or charged on a per-campus basis significantly increasing the costs.

We are also aware that some libraries are not able to buy (license) content because it is not available for their market, or it’s only available as part of a bundle with content our institutions do not want or need, or the pricing and terms are not acceptablexviii.

Libraries encounter problems and uncertainty supporting researchers working across international borders because EU law is not harmonised. This means researchers cannot share their resources even within the same institution, they cannot share their research data or findings without asking copyright questions that neither the law nor a librarian can clearly answer. The “Improving Access” report identified that 80 % of researchers still report issues in accessing information necessary for their researchxix despite the best efforts of their library colleagues.

Further, libraries also report licences directly conflicting with national and EU law, for example, placing restrictions on text and data mining for scientific purposes, directly conflicting with Article 3 of the DSM Directive.

What’s next ?

The draft ERA Act is due late 2026, it will be hugely important for libraries to engage with the discussion around the draft, to voice our views via any opportunities to give feedback both collectively and individually. The work on the Digital Omnibus continues and we must engage in the debate around the package of digital and data legislation that impacts the work of our libraries and researchers.

There is also the European Education Area Actxx which intends to create a more resilient inclusive and higher quality education system for Europe. Libraries will be central here, too, so it will be vital to be a key stakeholder in the dialogue.

We haven’t mentioned important work on equitable access via the EU Accessibility Act, Trusted Research, or the pressures libraries face to restrict, limit, ban, or remove access to certain types of information.

We started by saying that libraries hold a great power and responsibility- let’s use it.

 

Judith Ludwig et Alex Fenlon are co-chairs of the LIBER Working Group for Copyright & Legal Matters. This article benefited from the contributions, comments, and expert insights of Alexander Hasgall, Executive Director of LIBER.