Date: Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 4:10 PM
I have a new (to me) license provision being presented to me by a provider. The gist of it is that any notes, highlights, etc. that the user makes when using the resource (what the provider refers to as 'submitted content') remain the property of the user, but the licensor is granted:
a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide license to use, store, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, create derivative works, publish, transmit, display and distribute such content in any and all media or distribution methods.
Licensor states this is so that they can preserve the user experience in the event of technology changes. I think it's a legitimate need (vendor needs to store your notes, highlights, etc. so that every time you log in to 'your bookshelf' your notes, etc. are maintained, even in new iterations of the software/platform etc.) but the provision as worded is outrageous. Especially when you consider that it's legal content and therefore notes, highlights, etc. of a user could actually be confidential work product.
Do any of you have language in your agreements that deals with this 'user created' content? Both with regard to how it is stored by the provider, and the confidentiality of that content? Not only would I never grant that license, this has made me realize I need to lock that content down hard and fast in this and future agreements. Good lesson!
Cheers,
Tracy
Tracy L. Thompson, Executive Director
NELLCO Law Library Consortium, Inc.
Albany Law School
Schaffer Law Library
Albany, NY 12208
www.nellco.org[log in to unmask]twitter - @nellcoinc
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. - Jorge Luis Borges