From: April Hathcock <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2014 19:45:20 -0500

Anytime we get licenses that include user terms, we always insist on
including a clause that says that we will make reasonable efforts to
make users aware of the terms of use. We never agree to police user
activity, nor do we ever agree to terms that essentially amount to an
agreement on behalf of the users (which we can't do). In a few cases,
we've agreed to license materials on which the vendor has attached a
click-through user agreement--but even then we make it clear in our
license that we're not taking any responsibility for user behavior.

You have good reason to be uncomfortable with those terms. They could
impose responsibilities on your library that you just don't want.

April

April M. Hathcock
Scholarly Communications Librarian
New York University Libraries
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
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On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 7:16 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Elizabeth Henry <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2014 11:41:47 -0500
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm responsible for reviewing license agreements here at my
> university.  Recently, some librarians expressed interest in
> purchasing e-books from a vendor we've never purchased from, so I
> looked through their institutional purchase agreement and I came
> across these terms that make me uncomfortable.  The terms can be seen
> below:
>
> Permitted:
>
> Provided that the copyright header attached to the ebook chapter is
> retained, Authorized Users at the Purchaser's institution may:
>
> 1. download and and print one copy of each ebook chapter for personal
> use and archive contents on their own personal computers
>
> 2. send one copy of an ebook chapter by email, hard copy, or fax to
> one person in the Purchaser's campus/institutional network at another
> location for that individual's personal use.
>
> The reason why I am not comfortable with these terms is because once a
> user downloads the e-book onto their computer or tablet, what they do
> with the e-book is essentially out of our control.  We can't be sure
> that a user will download only one copy (what if the user has multiple
> devices or forgets that s/he already downloaded a copy?) or send to
> someone within the University.
>
> What are your thoughts on these terms?  Have any libraries agreed to
> these terms?  If you have, have you had any trouble?  Were you able to
> negotiate these terms to something more acceptable?
>
> Please let me know.
>
> Thank you,
> Elizabeth
>
> Elizabeth Henry
> Instruction and Reference/E-Resources Librarian
> Gallaudet University Library
> Merrill Learning Center
> Washington, D.C. 20002
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