From: "Smith, Kevin L" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2016 13:48:26 +0000

Copyright in the UK is similar in structure and coverage to the law in
the U.S.  The primary difference is in the exceptions -- things that
might look like infringement but are declared by the statute not to
be.  In the U.K., such exceptions are spelled out, and there is no
"catch-all" like the U.S. doctrine of fair use.  These enumerated
exceptions are often referred to as "fair dealing," but should not be
confused with the open-ended exception in the U.S.

The U.K. exceptions include allowance for private and research study,
criticism, copying and lending by libraries, reformatting and backup
copying for personal use, and parody, among others.  This fact sheet
from the U.K. Copyright Service might help:

https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law

It should be noted that the U.K. is also subject to the database
protection rules of the E.U., which create independent protection for
databases.

Overall, the passage you quote seems very reasonable to me.  If I were
at an institution that was able to accept foreign law to govern its
agreements (I am not), I would not hesitate to sign such a contract,
assuming other parts of it are acceptable.  But most institutions have
rules about if and when they can agree to jurisdictions outside their
own, and those rules at your place would be the most important factor
in deciding whether or not to accept this.

Best,

Kevin

Kevin L. Smith, J.D.
Dean of Libraries
University of Kansas

-----Original Message-----
From: Terry Leopold <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2016 22:37:31 +0000

[MOD NOTE:  A good question, but it received no liblicense-l
responses.  Anyone out there have any words of wisdom?]

We've been asked to sign a license from a company in the U.K. which
binds us to U.K. copyright law.  Here's the passage:

"This Agreement shall be deemed to complement and extend the rights of
the Institution and Authorised Users under the United Kingdom’s
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and Copyright (Visually
Impaired Persons) Act 2002 and nothing in this Agreement shall
constitute a waiver of any statutory rights held by the Institution
and Authorised Users from time to time under these Acts or any
amending legislation."

Does anyone have any insight as to whether we should accept this?  I
don't know if U.K. and U.S. copyright law are similar enough for us to
agree with this, or whether we should ask that it be struck and
replaced with a referenced to U.S. law.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Terry Ann Leopold
E-Resource Manager
Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries
3801 E. Florida Ave., Suite 515
Denver, CO  80210
[log in to unmask]
Phone - 303.759.3399, ext 111. Fax – 303.759.3363