BILL NUMBER: AB 2471 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lara
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add Section 66409.5 to the Education Code, relating to
postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2471, as amended, Lara. Postsecondary education: e-textbooks.
(1) The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of
the 4 segments of the postsecondary education system in the state.
These segments include the 3 public postsecondary segments: the
University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the
University of California, the California State University, which is
administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and
the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board
of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Private and
independent postsecondary educational institutions constitute the
other segment.
Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the
University of California only to the extent that the regents act, by
resolution, to make them applicable.
Existing law urges textbook publishers to take specified actions
aimed at reducing the amounts that students pay for textbooks,
including providing to faculty and departments considering textbook
orders a list of all the different products the publisher sells.
Existing law requires the Trustees of the California State University
and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and
requests the Regents of the University of California, to take
specific actions with their respective academic senates, college and
university bookstores, and faculty to promote the selection of
textbooks that will result in cost savings to students.
This bill would require the trustees and the governing board of
each community college district, and urge the regents and the
governing body of each private postsecondary educational institution
that offers a baccalaureate degree, to develop and adopt rules,
regulations, and procedures that would prohibit the
assignment of mandate that an e-textbook, as
defined, that is assigned as required or recommended
reading in a course offered at the postsecondary educational
institution unless that e-textbook complies
comply with specified requirements. These requirements include:
pricing tiers reflecting consumer access rights over period
periods of time, as specified; cloud storage,
as defined; and digital rights management
information, as specified; a refund policy, as prescribed
; and unbundled electronic subscriptions to online
services relating to the e-textbook .
Because the bill would impose new duties on community college
districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 66409.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
66409.5. (a) The Trustees of the California State University and
the governing board of each community college district shall, and the
Regents of the University of California and the governing body of
each private postsecondary educational institution that offers a
baccalaureate degree are urged to, develop and adopt rules,
regulations, and procedures that would prohibit the
assignment of mandate that an e-textbook
assigned as required or recommended reading in a course offered
at the postsecondary educational institution unless that
e-textbook complies comply with all of the
requirements of subdivision (b).
(b) An e-textbook assigned as required or recommended reading in a
course offered at the postsecondary educational institution shall
comply with all of the following:
(1) The For content licensed as
proprietary copyright, the e-textbook shall be offered with
pricing tiers that reflect consumer access rights over periods of
time. At a minimum, both a "rental" price and a "lifetime purchase"
price shall be listed by the publisher, clearly noting consumer
access to the e-textbook over periods of time.
(2) The e-textbook shall be offered with cloud storage, and shall
be housed by copyright publishers for access by consumers.
(3) The For content licensed as
proprietary copyright, the publisher shall make available to
the consumer a clear and explicit refund policy allowing a full
refund for a purchased e-textbook for up to 14 days from the date of
purchase or for up to 50 pages of the e-textbook read by the
consumer .
(4) The publisher shall provide the consumer with explicit digital
rights management information, including, but not limited to, all of
the following:
(A) The percentage of the e-textbook that can be printed.
(B) The percentage of the e-textbook that can be copied and pasted
outside of the electronic reading environment.
(C) The percentage of the e-textbook that can be exported outside
of the electronic reading environment.
(D) The durability of any notes or highlights the consumer
creates.
(5) The publisher shall offer electronic subscriptions to online
services relating to the e-textbook that are not bundled with the
e-textbook, to enable students with a hardcopy version of the
textbook to purchase these electronic subscriptions without also
purchasing the e-textbook.
(c) As used in this section:
(1) "Cloud storage" means a model of networked online storage
where data is stored in virtualized pools of storage that can be
accessed through a Web service application programming interface
(API) or through a Web-based user interface. Cloud storage access
shall be consistent with purchased price tier, including
indefinitely.
(2) "E-textbook" means an electronic text, image, or interactive
modular-based publication in digital form , licensed as either
proprietary copyright or under applicable open license terms
including creative commons, produced on, published by, and
readable on, computers or other digital devices. "E-textbook"
includes enhancement components, including multimedia.
(3) "Lifetime purchase" means a price that allows access to
e-textbook material in perpetuity. A feature that is available at the
time of purchase shall be available to the consumer indefinitely.
(4) "Multimedia" includes, but is not necessarily limited to,
sound, images, video, animated graphics, and interactive features.
(5) "Rental" means a price that allows access to an e-textbook for
an explicit, set amount of time, with the expiration date for the
e-textbook clearly noted to the consumer.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.