Restrictive license agreements for online journals (Alfred Kraemer) Ann Ercelawn 30 Oct 1996 00:14 UTC
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 15:37:56 -0600 From: Alfred Kraemer <akraemer@POST.ITS.MCW.EDU> Subject: Restrictive license agreements for online journals Over the last few months we have taken a closer look at online access offers to journals for which we currently have a print subscription. Many of these offers are for journals with medium to high use levels at our college, and have therefore the potential for significant use as online journals. In the evaluation of license agreements for online journals we -and I'm sure we are not the only ones- have noticed some severe limitations, some ill-defined terminology, and impractical definitions of 'authorized users'. We feel that licenses about online access to a journal should grant the library the same types of uses as the print copy(i.e. in short the library's patrons should have library- and remote access, public patrons have access in the library, interlibrary loan is permissible within copyright). Certainly, if the online version is intended to be considered an alternative to the print it should be equivalent in the above usage types. Case in point: The "Journal of Molecular Biology" published by Academic Press. The current license to the Journal of Molecular Biology Online contains the following statements: 1. From Section 2. IP Address Registration (...) For the terms of this Agreement an institution is defined as a contiguous campus community and network, including lodgings and residences of faculty, staff or students or one contiguous commercial office complex. Multi-campus, multi-office or consortia use or the sharing of publications is NOT allowed. (...) While I understand the publisher's concern about the possible abuse of online subscriptions, the above definition of an "institution" is very ambivalent at best: If we would define our institution that way individuals with no affiliation to our institution would be included, while a portion of our affiliated -and currently served- users would be excluded. 2. From Section 6. Usage Restrictions, Interlibrary Lending. (...) The online form the publications may not be used, directly or indirectly, by Subscribers and their Authorized Users for the purpose of making interlibrary loans.(...) So far I have not seen a license agreement that expressly permits interlibrary lending from a paid online subscription. I -and most of my colleagues- feel that this a substantial limitation with a potentially debilitating impact on interlibrary lending. Many of the terms of online journal licensing agreements appear to be 'under development'. In one instance, I have to credit Academic Press with responding to concerns from libraries: A fairly broad statement about access by members of the public in the library was included in the latest, revised license agreement, obviously after complaints about the impracticality of excluding public patrons from access in the library. This suggests to me that this may be a good time to voice our concerns about licensing agreements for online journals. I wonder if any libraries have either voiced their concerns about some of the above restrictions or have successfully amended license agreements. (There is a persistent rumor about a library that simply crossed out some paragraphs containing unusual access restrictions before signing and returning the license agreement. Unconfirmed, of course) I would appreciate information from libraries that have dealt with such restrictive license agreements and their reasons for accepting or rejecting the license terms. Thank you. Alfred B. Kraemer Technical Services Librarian Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries 8701 Watertown Plank Road Milwaukee, WI 53226 (414) 456-4273 E-Mail: akraemer@post.its.mcw.edu