The Palace Project Library Ownership Model

The Palace Project was built by libraries for libraries, and we believe that libraries should be able to own their digital books in full, not just license them, mirroring the rights they enjoy with physical books. This ownership model, giving libraries similar "First Sale Rights" to those they enjoy with print books, empowers libraries with flexibility, portability, and control over their collections.

Key Provisions of Library Ownership

When a Library purchases an owned digital copy of a work through the Palace Marketplace, it acquires rights that are fundamentally different from those under standard, restrictive digital licenses.

Contract Language Related to Ownership

The agreement defines library ownership as:

  • With respect to a Particular Copy of a given Digital Work, a transfer of rights in such Copy that are substantially equivalent to the rights such Permitted Library would have in a physical print copy (e.g., a paperback or hard cover book) of the applicable literary work purchased by such Permitted Library under the first sale doctrine, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109….

This framework is explicitly referred to in the contract as “collectively, the 'First Sale Rights'” and grants the library the power to manage its digital collection autonomously.

What Libraries Can Do With Their Digital Copies

With this purchase, a library gains a comprehensive set of rights over the purchased copy (the "Copy"), specifically including the right to:

  • Lend the Copy to one End User at a time,
  • Share the Copy to any other library that is part of a consortium or cooperative,
  • Display or perform, or permit the display or performance of, such Particular Copy on one personal computer or hand-held device at a time,
  • Host the File Freely: Host, or have another individual or entity Host, such Digital Work on behalf of such Library Customer,
  • Update the Format: Reproduce the source code or object code encoding such Digital Work as necessary to transfer such Particular Copy from one piece of hardware... to another piece of hardware, and prepare derivative works of the source code or object code encoding such Digital Work as necessary to change the format of such Digital Work.

File Transfer and Portability

A core component of this ownership is portability. If a library wishes to change its hosting solution, it retains the right to request the digital file be transferred to a new provider.

The Palace Project will fulfill this transfer request, ensuring the new host can meet industry security and DRM standards. The contract states:

  • Palace Marketplace may transfer responsibility for Hosting any Digital Work, a Particular Copy of which has been Sold to a Library Customer under this Agreement, to such Library Customer or to another individual or entity selected by such Library Customer, but only if The Palace Project has a reasonable good faith belief that such individual or entity will be able and willing to comply with the obligations set forth in Sections 3.A through 3.I. with respect to such Digital Work.

The publisher further agrees to this transfer, provided the new host meets specific security criteria, including being already approved by the publisher or working with a publisher of comparable size. Approval of the recipient host is at Lyrasis's discretion, so there is no need for a transferring library to involve the publisher when transferring content.  

What is Not Explicitly Included

It is important to note that the Palace ownership model does not explicitly allow the library to resell. While this is the conceptual part of the first sale, since there is no practical mechanism for the library resale of digital works today, we deemed it unnecessary to explicitly grant this right to the library.