Publishers Weekly: “Maryland’s library e-book law is effectively dead. In a court filing this week, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said the state would present no new evidence in a legal challenge filed by the Association of American Publishers, allowing the court’s recently issued preliminary injunction blocking the law to stand, and paving the way for it to be converted into a permanent injunction. “The State acknowledges that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the Court may grant or deny further relief in this matter without a further hearing or trial,” the filing states. However, rather than convert Judge Deborah L. Boardman’s preliminary injunction into a permanent injunction, state attorneys argued that a less burdensome declaratory judgment would suffice…

Libraries face unique challenges as they sit at the intersection of public service and the private marketplace in an evolving society that is increasingly reliant on digital media,” the judge concluded in her 28 page opinion. “Striking the balance between the critical functions of libraries and the importance of preserving the exclusive rights of copyright holders, however, is squarely in the province of Congress and not this Court or a state legislature.”