The licensing lifecycle: from negotiation to compliance

The Licensing Lifecycle:From Negotiation to Compliance

Eric Hartnett and Jane Smith Texas A&M University Libraries

May 3, 2014NASIG 29th Annual ConferenceFt. Worth, Texas

Agenda

• Overview of Texas A&M University• Licensing Process• License Agreement Checklist• Difficult Negotiations• CORAL and Licenses• Breach of Licenses• Resources

Texas A&M University

• Founded in 1876

• Research Intensive

• Sixth largest university in the nation

• Part of the Texas A&M University System

Texas A&M University Libraries

• Spent approximately $12 million for electronic resources in past two years for• 800 databases• 85,000 e-journals• 400,000 e-books

• Ranked 9th in expenditures for electronic resources among ARL libraries in 2010-2011 survey

Electronic Resources Licensing (ERL) Team

• Coordinates and tracks negotiations of licenses for all electronic resources• Seven of eight members process licenses• Bring in stakeholders in other library

departments when needed• Track through monthly meetings, WIKI page,

Contract Status Spreadsheet, spreadsheets for cyclical funding opportunities

Licensed Resources

• Fiscal Year 13 – 62 licenses processed• Single e-journals• Single e-books• Journal packages• E-book packages• Databases• Datasets• Single DVDs• Streaming Videos• Services

Licensing Process – Step 1 - Checklist

• Librarians negotiate pricing and terms relevant to library

• Use License Agreement Checklist• List of clauses common to licenses for electronic

resources• List elements that could be included in clauses

Basic Information

☐ Site license Multi-site license☐ ☐ Lists sites covered by license

☐ Lists IP ranges (preferably referenced and appendixed)

☐ Name of resource and/or title lists included

☐ Payment, fee schedules, cost of contract specified

Mode of Access

☐ IP Authentication (preferred)

☐ Single username/password, shared

☐ CD-ROM on secure network

☐ Remote Access/EZProxy

Authorized Users

☐ Current faculty , staff and students

☐ Walk-in users

☐ Visiting scholars and researchers

Authorized Uses

☐ Print Download☐ Email☐ Text Mining☐

☐ Transmit to third party colleague an electronic or hard copy of minimal, insubstantial amounts for personal, scholarly, educational or scientific research or professional use, but not for resale

☐ Use brief excerpts, figures or tables with appropriate credit in Authorized User’s own scientific, scholarly and educational works

Interlibrary Loan

☐ Allowed Not Allowed☐

Type ☐ Electronic transmission of an electronic original

(preferred)

☐ Electronic transmission of a paper copy of an electronic original

☐ Electronic , fax or mail transmission of a paper copy of the print original (acceptable)

Electronic Reserves

☐ Allowed Not Allowed☐

Type ☐ Incorporate links in electronic reserves

☐ May store in electronic format in electronic reserves.

CoursePacks and Course Management Systems

☐ Allowed Not Allowed☐

Type ☐ Incorporate links

☐ May download, print, and distribute to students

Renewal/Termination

☐ Automatic Renewal

☐ Length of license term defined

☐ Cancellation terms defined

☐ Bailout Clause for Multiyear license

Perpetual access

☐ Yes No☐

Format: ____

☐ Ongoing Access Free of Charge

☐ Ongoing Access with reasonable Annual Fee

☐ Transmit Files to be Locally Hosted

☐ Member of dark archive

Other clauses

☐ ADA Compliant?

☐ Content changes?

☐ Usage statistics? COUNTER-compliant?

☐ MARC records?

☐ Amendments? ☐ Add campuses? ☐ Add content?

Strike or qualify*

☐ Indemnification

☐ Non-disclosure Clause

☐ Arbitration/Dispute Resolution Statement

☐ Governing Law

*”TAMU agrees to the foregoing provision to the extent authorized by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas.”

Dealbreakers

☐ Access is through single username/password, not shared

☐ Access is through an email format

☐ Must destroy all materials upon termination of the contract

☐ Must monitor patron use

☐ Must keep full and up-to-date patron records

☐ Must supply patron records to licensor upon request

What happens when…negotiations fail

• Add note for our Contract Administration Office

• Walk away

• Subscribe anyway

Difficult Negotiations

• “…shall only be accessed on designated university equipment.”

• “Client is also subject to the third party provider restrictions found at www.thirdpartyterms.com.”

• Honoring negotiated inflation cap

Difficult Negotiations, cont’d.

• Click-through license• No references to the laws of any state or

country• Multisite license for 3 sites located on the

same campus• 8 months, 4 reps, 1 product• No interlibrary loan of a purchased, physical

item

Licensing Process Step 2 - Completion

• Send contract to library business office for signature• Dean’s signature • Under $5,000

• Contract Administration• Contracts over $5,000

• Office of General Counsel• Contracts over $50,000

Licensing Process Step 3 - CORAL

• Adding licenses to CORAL

• Store all licenses, amendments, addendums, and related documents in one place• Pull out clauses making it easier for staff not

accustomed to reading licenses• Compare clauses across all licenses• Display licenses that are up for renewal

Licensing Process Step 4 – Compliance

• Breach of license• Excessive downloading – amount• Systematic downloading – speed

• Vendor notifies me of possible violation

• I reply• Apologize for alleged violation• Promise to investigate incident• Report findings to publisher

• I forward vendor’s email to library’s IT department

Contact Procedures

• NetID Identified – • Send email notifying user of excessive activity using

his/her NetID• Use template

• Request explanation• Follow up if required

• Department Identified, but not NetID• Request Dept. Head’s help

• Report results and explanations to Vendor

Examples

• Annual Reviews – attempt to download 42 years of Fluid Mechanics to take to home country

• OnePetro – downloaded 1,081 articles in a 24 hour period, visiting scholar – president of foreign university

• Association for Computing Machinery – research project involving Google attack

Examples

• Elsevier – User’s account hacked, abuse originating overseas

• Illegal sharing of NetID and password

• Safari Books – triggered by url validity check in Voyager

Sample Licensing Documents

• Library-community CORAL Management module:• http://coralshare.library.tamu.edu

• Documents available• Licensing Checklist• Sample Letter to Possible Offender• Sample Letter to Department Head

Resources

• Licensing Digital Content: A Practical Guide for Librarians, 2nd Edition, Lesley Ellen Harris, American Library Association, 2009

• Negotiating Licences for Digital Resources, Fiona Durrant, Facet Publishing, 2006

• Interpreting and Negotiating Licensing Agreements, Arlene Bielefield and Lawrence Cheeseman, Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. 1999

Questions?