Licensing Negotiation for Subscribed Electronic Resources for Yale University Library -- Pre-Reading the License

 

A selector or acquisitions librarian initiating an inquiry regarding a particular product for possible purchase or activation needs to take several actions initially.

  1. Check to see if there have been other products licensed from the same vendor. Information may be found in several different places (Ejournal Status, License Info, License database (see access info on E-Res Manage), and the license vertical file)
  2. Consult with the Vendor Contact about whether the license covers additional products (this is more common with journals). If not, it is possible that the license can be amended (with a rider or addendum) to apply to the new product.
  3. If none of the above apply, then ask the vendor for a generic license to review or ask if they are willing to review our generic licenses (long or short).

See Liblicense for vocabulary assistance, and a precis of important license points

  1. How does the license define authorized users. -- YUL licenses must include faculty, staff, students, walk in users, and also should include closely affliated institutions, in particular Yale New Haven Hospital.
    See generic licenses (long or short) for preferred or substitutable language.
  2. How does the license define permitted uses. -- YUL licenses must include printing, downloading, saving, copying of insubstantial amounts for non-commercial purposes, limited sharing for scholarly purposes, ILL, coursepacks and e-reserves
    See generic licenses (long or short) for preferred or subsitutable language
  3. How does the license define adequate lead time (45 days) for renewals and payments.
  4. WATCH OUT FOR -- non-U.S. Law or jurisdiction. Also jurisdiction of a state which has passed UCITA (Maryland and Virginia as of 10/2000). Substitute Connecticut or New York
  5. WATCH OUT FOR -- indemnification clauses
    If you can't delete the clause, subsitute:
    Each party shall indemnify and hold the other harmless for any losses, claims, damages, awards, penalties, or injuries incurred, including reasonable attorney's fees, which arise from any alleged breach of such indemnifying party's representations and warranties made under this Agreement, provided that the indemnifying party is promptly notified of any such claims.
  6. WATCH OUT FOR -- modifications to license taking place upon posting to vendors' website. YUL license changes must be approved by a countersigned written instrument.
  7. WATCH OUT FOR -- arbitrary modification of services or content
  8. WATCH OUT FOR -- confidentiality of license. YUL must be able to inform users of terms of the license
  9. For more specifics, refer to detailed page for YUL staff on licensing electronic resources. Contact the Head, Electronic Collections if you need the password.

After initial license review, the selector or acquisitions librarian may open negotiations with the vendor on the understanding that final changes may need to be made after review by the AUL for Collections. OR the YUL contact may choose to have the AUL for Collections review the license prior to beginning negotiations with the vendor. Selectors should use the License Tracking Form when submitting licenses for signature (even if they have no need for its tracking features.)

Yale Digital Initiatives © 2008 Yale University Library

Electronic Collections Department
Last modified: 07/07/03

http://www.library.yale.edu/ecollections/licenseguide.html