> 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
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
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]