The Application of Controlled Digital Lending for Video

Written By Audra M. Deemer
Image of library workers scanning books and users accessing the scanned materials on an iPad

Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) is a protocol that allows libraries to do what they do, lend materials to the public. This process is the lending of a digital copy in place of the physical resource to one user at a time. A majority of the discourse on CDL concerns the legalities of the practice (see the suit against the Internet Archive) and is centered around the lending of books. 

In this article, my aim is to explore the opportunity for libraries to apply this practice to physical video formats, like DVD or Blu-ray Discs, in order to provide streaming access from these physical copies.

“At its core, CDL is about replicating with digital lending the legal and economically significant aspects of physical lending.”

In order to practice CDL, libraries must:

  • Have legal ownership of the physical item (either by purchase or donation/gift)

  • Only use CDL for materials that are owned and not licensed

  • Maintain the “owned to loaned” ratio (the number of loans must equal the number of copies owned so if a library owns three copies, they can lend two of the print and one digital or two digital and one print and so on)

  • Lend each digital copy to one user at a time (just as a physical copy would be)

  • Limit the loan period akin to the time period for physical loans

  • Use technical measures (digital rights management) to prevent the digital file from being copied or redistributed

CDL of Videos

While libraries will continue to collect formats like DVDs and Blu-rays, the number of library users that own or have easy access to the equipment to view these formats will continue to decline. It’s difficult to find statistics on ownership of DVD/Blu-ray players in U.S. households post 2018, but at that time, the overall percentage was 67% and for the 18-34 demographic, it was at 57.8%. It would be an educated assumption that the numbers have decreased since then. We also know that the use of streaming services (both paid and free) continues to rise and by the end of 2021, 85% of U.S. households used a video subscription service. Classrooms also may not have the equipment and most new computers and laptops do not have disc drives. 

Libraries may provide access to the players, but this forces users to have to be physically present in the library to use or to borrow. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the importance of users being able to access resources remotely. Irrespective of the pandemic circumstances, it’s also crucial to acknowledge that some percentage of users will have barriers to physically visiting the library, due to physical limitations or disabilities or lack of access to transportation or a safe route to the library.

CDL Benefits Libraries and Library Users

  • CDL enhances the accessibility of resources, by offering around-the-clock, remote access

  • Digital versions may offer functionalities that are not available in the physical format like keyword searching

  • Digitized versions aid in conservation and preservation of materials such as books, VHS cassettes, and DVDs, which are susceptible to wear and tear from frequent handling

  • Digitizing materials allows libraries to reduce the space used by collections (CDL permits libraries to destroy the original physical item and keep and use only the digital copy. In this case, it is highly recommended the library retain records showing both ownership and destruction)

  • Lending through CDL reduces the environmental impact as items are not being physically shipped to locations

In addition to its user-oriented benefits, CDL can also prove to be financially advantageous for libraries. With limited funds in collections budgets, many libraries may struggle to acquire access to digital content, especially given the many varieties of streaming media acquisition models. Moreover, licensing of the digital title may not even be available to an institution. While digitization and the establishment and upkeep of CDL entail expenses in terms of labor and technology, the provision of digital copies can serve as a long-term cost savings for some libraries.

It’s important to also stress that the practice of CDL would not necessarily eliminate the availability to borrow items like DVDs from the library collection. CDL libraries do not have to retain the physical item in order to lend the digitized version, but many may choose to do so in order to meet the needs of some of their users. While we see a continued increase in use and preference for streaming media, there are still many people who may prefer DVDs/Blu-rays and we continue to contend with a digital divide where one in five U.S. households are not online (18% of which say they cannot afford home Internet service).

Obstacles to CDL and Videos

There are legal and technological obstacles to the practice of CDL and this is especially true when we are talking about videos. 

For U.S. libraries, the “Position Statement On Controlled Digital Lending By Libraries” outlines how, like traditional physical lending practices, the principle of exhaustion and the fair use doctrine support CDL (including materials other than books) but in the FAQ, the authors note that “the legal analysis presented in the Position Statement and White Paper does not address the copyright-adjacent question of circumvention of technical protection measures under 17 USC § 1201 that may arise in the case of materials protected by digital right managements such as some CDs or DVDs.”

So while we may be able to show legal support for the practice of CDL, we do not really have a way to make digital copies of DVDs/Blu-rays without circumventing the technological protection measures that encrypt the discs and thus violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Exemptions to this are much too narrow to allow for the full digitization of a film, with the allowance being only incorporating “short portions” into new works “for the purpose of criticism or comment.” 

The act of digitization makes it more difficult to implement CDL for videos. Nevertheless, alternative solutions might exist that could potentially eliminate the need for digitizing physical copies. For instance, a library could acquire a DVD that includes a streaming video file and proceed to host that file. Often, a library has already purchased both the DVD and corresponding streaming file. However, there are instances where videos are exclusively available in physical format, meaning that the digitization of the physical copy would be the only option. It is important to remember that CDL applies solely to content that is available in physical format, while content solely accessible through streaming options would not qualify for CDL. CDL will not be the solution for issues related to lending and rendering streaming content accessible.

Is there another option? While some may propose using screen-capture technologies as an option for digitization, this is not a sustainable practice and the legality is questionable. The quality also is not really sufficient and would require the library to have the full length of the video play in order to record it and then convert the file to a format that can then be uploaded to the platform used to lend the video. 

There are also other technology issues to be considered for best practices of CDL. How will we deliver the streaming video/digital copy to a user? Options may be:

  • A user accesses via web browser through a delivery system like Alma Digital

  • A user downloads and opens in an app to access the item, offline access is permitted

  • Both a web browser and app

There are also authentication issues to consider. If CDL is practiced within a library system or consortium, how does a user from one library access a digital copy from another library? What if each library has a different delivery method? 

The administration and management of CDL requires consideration for library staff and workflows. How does one ensure that the physical copy is rendered inaccessible once the digital copy has been borrowed, in order to maintain a desirable "loaned to owned" ratio? Does an automated system exist to alert relevant personnel to remove the physical copy? Must library staff fetch the item off the shelf each time a digital copy is borrowed? Will the physical copy need to be temporarily stored away from public access?

Conclusion

Controlled Digital Lending has the potential to increase libraries’ abilities to offer access to their collections. While we know that the law is not settled on the practice, many libraries and library users support the development and practice of CDL. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, libraries, both public and academic, have realized the necessity of offering digital access to content, especially streaming video. CDL of videos is more complicated because of the need to circumvent technical protection measures in order to digitize. So while we know the necessity of being able to offer streaming video as a part of CDL, we still must determine how we can surpass the legal and technological barriers. We will need to continue developing our expertise of the practice and knowledge of the legal framework, advocating for CDL, and cultivating recommended interoperable workflows. 

Learn More about CDL

The image for this article is sourced from Wikimedia Commons and used under CC-BY 4.0 International Creative Commons License.

Audra M. Deemer

Audra M. Deemer is the Head of Acquisitions and Collections at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. She earned her MLIS in her hometown at the University of Pittsburgh.

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