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, room 1302
800 Florida Ave, NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
202-250-2855
[log in to unmask]