From: Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2019 03:25:28 +0000

> Of course the Licensor has copyright permissions, to the best of its
belief.

> But one can be mistaken.  It is very common to try to limit liability.



But there are proper and improper ways to limit one’s liability. If one is
selling access to content, trying to put liability on the customer is not
proper and not acceptable. In the case of a transaction like this, it’s the
seller who is representing himself as an authorized broker of access to the
content, so it’s the buyer who should be able to expect assurances that the
seller really is authorized and is operating in good faith.



It’s absurd for the person selling access to content to expect the buyer to
indemnify him against potential claims on the part of the copyright holders
in the content to which access is being sold. But all too often, this is
exactly what the license says. That’s why librarians need to read license
agreements carefully and negotiate their terms.



---

Rick Anderson

Assoc. Dean for Collections & Scholarly Communication

Marriott Library, University of Utah

Desk: (801) 587-9989

Cell: (801) 721-1687

[log in to unmask]



From: Iris Brest <[log in to unmask]>

Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2019 00:07:49 +0000

Of course the Licensor has copyright permissions, to the best of its
belief.  But one can be mistaken.  It is very common to try to limit
liability.  The question I wonder about is the terms of the insurance
carried by the parties.







From: "Levenson, Patricia" <[log in to unmask]>

Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 13:39:15 +0000

It is the publisher’s responsibility to clear copyright BEFORE they
publish/use a third party’s work. There is no way I would be comfortable
with indemnification in this situation and would walk away from the
resource.



This begs many questions: Why is the publisher doing this? Do they not have
the legal and/or financial resources to ensure copyright compliance? If
they don’t have copyright to these works what rights do they have? How can
they legally publish this information if not? Is it a legit publisher?
Since it’s a moderately priced resource (as stated) it appears (to me) the
publisher is making a half-baked effort to publish while passing on any
copyright risk to its subscribers.



Unless I’m misunderstanding the original question…



Patricia (Patti) Levenson

Administrative Coordinator

Co-Chair, Professional Women’s Committee

E: [log in to unmask]

O: 508-856-2205



The Lamar Soutter Library

University of Massachusetts Medical School

55 Lake Avenue North
Worcester MA 01655-0002







From: "Mackinder, Lisa" <[log in to unmask]>

Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 13:32:03 +0000

Licensor is willing to indemnify us as Licensee against third-party claims
of copyright/IP infringement, but the indemnification is subject to a
liability cap of aggregate amounts paid in the 12 mo prior to the event in
the claim.



It’s a moderately priced resource, but the copyright of the content could
be and often is owned by third parties.



Any thoughts on having liability limited with a cap from the licensee
perspective?



Thanks,



Lisa



Lisa Mackinder | Head of Acquisitions and Collections Services

Alden Library | Ohio University

740-593-2707 | [log in to unmask]